Marina Anna
by GonetotheDirt
Summary: Yuri finds his life turned entirely upside down on its head when a lover from his past comes forth with news of him having impregnated her after their one night spent together as lovers. He lost his virginity to her that night and hadn't been thinking about any consequences; why would a 17-year-old? Now he must take responsibility for the baby and pick up the slack that the mother
1. Chapter 1

Good God how did he get himself in this mess? One night of bad choices led him to interesting places...Obviously. Big difference between now and then, though, was that all of his bad decisions before usually ended with a hangover or a grinding from his coaches. He was lucky most of the time.

Being a competitive ice skater was shitty when it came to having a personal life. Some punk with bad grades, and a few MIP's didn't fly in the competitive skating world. So Yuri didn't often push the limits or it would be his career on the line. He knew his ass would be cut from the program quicker than the time it would take a virgin Yuuri to cum.

So how, then, did he find himself standing amidst the biggest mess of his teenage life? Clearly he hadn't been careful enough.

God.

His palms were so sweaty; his hair was dirty and tied back into a low ponytail at the base of his tired neck. The mess of platinum locks were barely contained by a poor excuse of a hair tie that one of the nurses had been kind enough to let him use.

He didn't have to be there at all. He could have just sat out in the waiting room with Yuuri and Viktor. He owed nothing to this hag in the hospital bed; yet there he stood next to Micha's bed and held her hand while she screamed and groaned. It was really disgusting actually, but Yuri was doing his best to keep the disgusted expression off of his face. Easy, right? He just needed to not look anywhere near where the doctor was sitting between Micah's legs in the labor , though, he would glance just to make sure everything was okay. He was only sure to grimace for a split second otherwise he stood like an awkward looking statue.

Micah's hair was matted, soaking wet and sticking to every bit of her face; she was in a lot of pain. Yuri could only imagine. He reached out with his free hand and pushed her red bangs from her face and smoothed her hair out of her eyes so that she could at least see what the hell was going on.

Between her contraction she looked at him and huffed back her sob. She had been caught in this loop for a few hours now. With her contractions she would moan and groan and squeeze his hand tight while he leaned down and breathed through the pain with her. Then during the brief minute pauses she would look at him and tell him how sorry she was over and over.

It was hell. A personal hell just for Yuri.

He was stroking her hair while he watched her monitor beside her bed, knowing by then when she would have a contraction and for how long it would last. Hell, he could enlist as a fucking OBGYN nurse at that point with how familiar he was becoming with how babies, pregnancy, and labor all worked. .

"Look, you can stop apologizing now." he said as he leaned closer to her. "You're almost there. You can repay me by delivering my daughter safely," he said as he ran his thumb across the tops of her pale knuckles. The nurses all knew his story and what a shitty situation this was, but that didn't stop them from shooting Yuri flustered and judgemental glances. He wasn't trying to be mean, but this woman had made her choice. At this point she was just a means to an end for his daughter's birth. That's how Yuri had to look at it. It was the only way that made sense to him.

Her contraction came again, just in time to spare him from having to think too much about her or her feelings. For the last hour her contractions came with the encouraging words of push from the doctors and nurses. He was sure everything was fine, but being stuck in the birthing canal couldn't be that good for the baby, right? He was trying not to be worried, but he couldn't help but look down between Micha's legs again.

"The baby is crowning. Does the father want to see?" The doctor said as if on cue.

Yuri gulped and leaned a little further towards the older grey haired man so that he could see the crowning. At this point he let go of Micah and moved to put his hand on her knees so he could lean down and peak curiously..

The doctor grabbed for his hand and tugged him closer, yanking his hands downwards towards the crown of his baby's head. "What!? Am I supposed to catch her!?" Yuri screeched and resisted the urge to jump away.

"No, but you're going to want to be right here so you can take her," the doctor said.

Micah had her hands covering her face at this point, like that was going to do any good to hide her guilt and shame. This would be the last that either he or his daughter would see Micah.

Yuri's head was spinning as he heard another contraction hit Micah; the nurses were at her side now, taking his place in comforting her and encouraging her to push. Oh shit, was really all he could think. It was supposed to be a momentous moment for any man, but all he could think about was how ill prepared he was.

There was so much red. He didn't know where Micah's body ended and his daughter's body began for the first bit until at last she came.

She was so small, curled up like a pretzel. Her face was squished and her lips were a startling color of blue. "Ah-w-why are her lips blue!?" Yuri asked as he leaned forward and grabbed for her just as she was born.

She was moving though, that was good, right? The doctor's hands were clasped down on his. The older man was pulling the baby from her mother's womb and pushing her up into Yuri's arms after he snipped her umbilical cord and tied her belly button off right there as Yuri held onto her. He was really fast at his job.

There were two nurses next to him now. Yuri was so sure that they had came from out of nowhere. Dear God there was a lot of fluid; it wasn't blood, though, but it was disgusting, and it was everywhere! Yuri stayed still as he held onto his daughter. "W-why isn't she crying yet?" he asked as he watched the two women take thermometers and syringes to the babe's tiny nose and mouth.

"She will," one of the nurses said as they guided him backwards and sat him down in the hospital chair the very one that he had been dozing in off and on throughout the night of pre-labor with Micah. Another had a towel in her hand in which she was using to wipe away the excess fluid away off of Yuri's hospital gown and from the baby's body.

"It's best for baby that you put her on your chest so lean back," the nurse said as she gently pushed him against the backrest of the chair and resituated his daughter on his chest.

At that point the third nurse in the room pulled a curtain around Micah's bed, separating them for good. As Yuri's baby began to cry, he could hear Micah sob, not from pain, but from humiliation. She would regret this moment for the rest of her life, but Yuri would rather die than give her a second chance at this.

He looked down at his baby as her tiny hands and mouth groped all around his chest. She was crying between moments of opening her mouth and searching probably for her mother's breast. "Hey now," he said as he coddled her. "I'm not-I don't have any food there for you," he sniffed. "Geeze, the only one in this room that has the right to cry is you," he sniffed as he curled his body downwards while the nurses strapped her ID tags around her ankle and gave Yuri a matching one around his wrist. She was the only one that had the right to cry yet hot tears stung the corners of his eyes and blurred his vision while the sound of Micha's heartbroken sobbing echoed around them.

The two nurses kept poking at prodding at her before they picked her up and weighed her. There was so much going on; Yuri's whole world was spinning. When they returned her to him and continued with their job, he rested against the chair and stroked his baby's body, her blond hair, her tiny fingers, her perfect lips. She was too perfect.

Is this what it felt like to feel your life change? He wondered to himself as she cried such a pitiful little whimper. Her voice was so tiny and yet it was powerfully high pitched. Yuri choked out a half laugh as he brought his finger up to her lips and let her gum at the numb of his fingertip. "That's just about the most pitiful little cry I've heard come from a baby," he said down to her. "There, there, daddy is here for you, baby girl," he said, feeling incredibly out of place in having used the title daddy to call himself.

Fuck his heart hurt really bad.

"What is baby's name going to be?" One of the nurses asked from behind him.

Yuri smiled as he looked down at her. "Marina Anna Plisetsky."


	2. Chapter 2

Yuri was quite literally trapped on a roller coaster on which there was no escape. Not at least for the next 20 or so years he figured. He walked into this having not a single deluded idea that it would be easy. It was hard enough for both a mother and a father to have children and to support them with two jobs, but for a single teenage parent? Yuri was anticipating that the next 20 years would be near impossible, near it, but not impossible itself.

He was standing in a new hospital room now, away from Micha and hopefully out of her life for good. In front of him the nurses had a wash basin ready for him with warm water so that he could bathe Marina. Of course they all asked if he would prefer that they take care of it, but he stubbornly insisted that he take care of things himself.

He was afraid to move around too much with her in his hands. What if he dropped her? He shivered as he took a small step forward and brought her down into the water. Of course she began to complain loudly at the change of environment. It had only been an hour or so since her birth and she was already growing well into her lungs.

"Shhh, shhh," Yuri said as he stared down at her with a startled expression. "I'm not going to hurt you," he tried to sooth. From beside him he could hear the nurse laugh. He glanced over at her and scrunched his tiny nose in distaste. "It's not funny."

"I'm sorry ah-ha, you're just talking to her like you're talking to a wounded animal. I'm not being mean. I just think it's cute," she said as she showed him how to wash his daughter properly.

"So it's just you?" she asked. She was a newer nurse, part of the night crew.

"No; I've got my friends out in the waiting room. The nurses and doctors just wanted to get me settled into a room before they started letting in visitors. Or are you asking about why I don't have the mother around?"

"Both," she said. She continued to speak before Yuri could go getting himself annoyed by her intent. "I'm asking because there are things you're going to have to do tonight and you have a few options. Baby will have to eat every two hours. Typically when we have new parents we offer to watch the baby on the first night and let them rest. Do you-

"No. It's fine; I'll wake up every two hours with her," he said as he pulled her out of the wash basin and gently lay her against a fluffy white towel so he could begin to dry her off.

"That's fine. So this is where you'll be sleeping. We are on call all night so please press the help button on your bed if you need us. These sheets here on the table are to keep track of her bowel movements and her feeding times. And I do believe that we are ready to give her a feeding; she's probably hungry, huh, little one?" the nurse said as she addressed Marina. "Do you have any outfits or do you need us to provide some to you?" she asked as she glanced back up at Yuri.

"I-I've got my own," Yuri said as he looked downwards at his duffle bag beside his bed. He scuttled over to the bed and gently set Marina down, sprawling out the towel so he could dry her off more thoroughly. Her fingers were so wrinkly and tiny. He smiled lightly as he paid extra care in the shape of her hands when he ran the soft fabric of the towel across her pink skin. It felt like heaven for her fingers to curl around his hand.

He glanced around him before he leaned and grabbed for the duffle bag that a nurse had brought in for him earlier. He rummaged around and retrieved her first outfit and smiled proudly to himself.

He looked down at Marina when he was finished struggling his way through getting her dressed and smiled again at the little babe. "You're so precious," he whispered as he leaned over. Strands of his hair fell from behind his ears and tickled her as he rubbed his nose against her cheek. Yuri sighed, breathing in the scent of her before he stood and gently began to crawl onto the bed next to her.

"Okay," he said. "I've got this. I was an olympic candidate. That probably doesn't mean a lot to you, but it means that I've got dedication. We'll be alright," he said as he looked up at the door as a knock came echoing through the relatively quiet hospital room.

Yuri situated himself and pulled Marina into his lap just as the door pushed open, slowly at first, then faster as a silver haired man popped his head in the room. "Can we come in yet?" he asked as his blue eyes darted all around.

Being too tired to groan or come back with something smart assy to say, Yuri only laid back into the pillows and muttered a single "yea," as the nurse came to his bedside and held out a bottle for him.

"Baby is just having her first bottle now," the nurse said as Victor impatiently walked into the room and came to Yuri's bedside, his husband in tow behind him.

"Oh Yurio! She's so beautiful. Look at that little leopard print outfit. I don't remember buying that for you," he said as he leaned far too close to Yuri.

"That's because I bought it for her," he snarled as Marina blinked slowly and furrowed her brow at the sudden blur of color in front of her.

"Is your daddy going to give you the same tacky tastes that he has?" Victor said as he cooed at the little baby. "Don't worry I'll make sure to buy you princess outfits. Yes I will!"

Yuri didn't even know that a man's voice could reach that octave. He winced as he shoved his shoulder up and jerked Victor up in the chest, punishment for him having encroached on his space.

From behind Victor Yuri was laughing quietly. He had in his hands a bouquet of flowers and some balloons for Marina. Both of the losers looked way too proud to be there. What did they have to be proud for?

"Congratulations, Yurio," Yuuri said as he put the flowers next to Yuri's beside and leaned over across from Victor's shoulder and gave him a kiss atop of the head.

"Quit it; you guys are creeping me out. It's not like I'm the one that gave birth or anything," he muttered though he was plenty appreciative for the two's company and favors.

"But you are the one sitting in the hospital bed holding a new baby aren't you?" Yuuri said as he he tried to peer over from behind Victor. "Victor I can't see," he muttered as his glasses slid down his nose.

Yuri laughed. "I don't think you're going to have any luck pulling him away," he said to Yuuri. "Here. BE careful," he warned as he twisted his torso and moved to hand Marina off to Yuuri."

"No fair; I want to hold her," Victor said as he immediately hopped out of the way and let Yuuri come closer to the hospital bed.

"Do you want to feed her? She has to eat," Yuri said as he handed the bottle to Yuuri.

It was obvious that Yuuri was pretty happy to have been handed the baby. He looked down with such a warm smile. From behind his glasses his eyes were brimming with tears of delight. Or at least that's what it looked like, could have just been a glare from the sunlight off of those thick frames of his.

He grabbed the bottle from Yuri and moved around the bed to the nearby couch that was pushed up against the wall under the window. Yuri pulled a pillow from behind his back so that he could hold it while he watched Yuuri cradle the baby in his arms and begin to feed her.

"Yuuri, you look so comfortable holding her. You're making my heart burst at the brim with pride," Victor said as he wiggled close to Yuuri and leaned on his shoulder so that he could watch Marina in awe.

From over on the bed Yuri curled up and leaned his chin on his knees. He yawned and blinked slowly at the two lovers on the couch. She could be their baby. They'd be perfect for it. After all, what was he but a know-nothing teenager? And they were perfectly well functioning adults. They looked like they could be wonderful parents. A man and his husband feeding their baby.

Yuri sniffed, not because he was starting to cry but because his nose had been stuffy all morning. Lack of sleep tended to do that to him. He scrunched up his nose and sniffed loudly.

"Yuri; how long have you been awake?" Victor said from beside Yuri.

"Pretty much for the whole time," he said as he rubbed his eye. "I don't know. She was in pre labor for a long time. It was really hard for either of us to get any sleep."

"Why don't you get some rest and we'll watch her for you?" Victor offered.

"You're going to have to be up and down the most out of all of us when we get home so you should take the chance to rest if you're tired," Yuuri added as he patted Marina while she nursed quietly from the bottle.

"Yeah, you're right. Hey, has my grandpa sent anything to you guys?" he asked as he rolled over onto his side and grabbed for his phone off of the bedside table.

Both Yuuri and Victor look at each other before they shook their heads together. "He said that he would try and catch the soonest train down here, but even then it takes time to travel from Moscow to London by train," Victor said first.

"Yeah," Yuri sniffed. "He won't fly so I suppose it'll be some time still before he gets here."

"He'll be here soon, Yuri," Yuuri offered sweetly. "Sleep so that you can feel rested when he gets here, okay?"

"I need to take a shower first. I'm beyond disgusting. My hair is all greasy and I'm all sweaty," he said as he stretched on the bed just before he slid off of it in a very unflattering way. He reached for the hospital cradle meant for the baby and rolled it closer to the two husbands for them to use if they wanted, though he doubted that either of them would want to put her down any time soon. He looked down at the clear plastic of the hospital cradle and observed the patterned blanket for a brief moment."

He gave a tired smile before he kicked at his duffle bag and bent to yank it upwards to carry it to the hospital room's bathroom.

It felt like it had been ages since he had taken a warm shower. He was glad for it when he undressed and turned the faucet on. For some time he just stood there with his head tilted downwards so that the water could spill over the top of his hair and roll down the sides of his face. He was watching the water swirl at his feet and drain out from the shower.

It still didn't feel real. It hadn't felt real this entire time. Pregnancy was one thing, but the actual birthing process, holding a new infant, hearing her cry? She was very real now. Yuri felt as though he were living outside of himself, like nothing was real except for her.

His shoulders curled over as he hung his head sadly. He meant what he had been thinking; he was sure Victor and Yuuri would be a better option for Marina. How could he possibly pull this off? He was so afraid; so hurt; so alone.

His shoulders began to quiver as he choked out silent, little sobs. "God, I'm so sorry. Please help me," he whispered as he pushed his hands up against the shower wall to prevent himself from buckling to his knees. "Please give me the strength to do this," he whispered to himself. "Please, I'm begging you," he cried quietly.

"She's so beautiful. She deserves the best. Help me so I can do that for her."


	3. Chapter 3

Unfortunately for them, Yuuri and Victor had to bid their goodbyes later that evening when the nurses politely told them that non family visitors were not allowed after 1900. So it was just Yuri and Marina there in that hospital room so late in the evening.

Marina had been in and out of sleep just as he had been through most of the day.

As they promised Victor and Yuuri helped to watch her while Yuri was able to snooze, though he hardly slept any. He did lay there quietly and listened to the soft, deep tones of his friends' voices. He found comfort in that, comfort in them being around, in knowing that they were there to help..

Yuri was restlessly laying on mounds of blankets and watching Marina. He could hardly tell if she was awake or not in the dim light of the room. She was swaddled tight and quiet for the time being.

Yuri moved her a little closer to him in her cradle and put a hand on her chest, feeling her slight movements as she breathed in and out. She stirred briefly, but otherwise did not make a sound. The features of her face were starting to come out a little better now that she had some color to her. He could see the shape of her eyes and cheeks with better clarity than when she had first been born.

He smiled softly as he put his finger on her lips and traced the outline of them for just a moment before he retracted his hand and tucked it up into the crook of his neck while he lay on his side.

Somehow Yuri was able to doze off into a light slumber; he had no idea how much time had passed until he heard his daughter begin to stir in her cradle. It was a fuss at first, just a sniff and a pitiful whimper. Yuri snapped awake and instantly put his hand on her chest. How much time had gone by? Was it feeding time? Diaper change?

Gingerly, he weaseled out of bed and began tending to her. Diaper first, then re-swaddle, then he would hold her while he prepared her bottle all while she grew louder and louder with her crying. He hadn't swaddled her nearly good enough for she soon broke free of her restraints and wiggled in his arms while he tried to balance both her and his task at the same time. .

"Shhh shhh, baby girl," he whispered in the darkness. He wasn't sure if any other families were trying to sleep in the rooms next to him; he didn't want to be responsible for waking anyone. "Okay, okay, here," he said as he sat down in a nearby rocking chair and laid her out in his lap.

Yuri was frowning as he undid her half cocked swaddle and tried again. He was muttering the steps to himself, hoping this time he would get it right. "You have to stay wrapped up. It'll make you feel better," he said before he scooped her up into his arms after he had successfully wrapped her. He helped her to find the nipple to her bottle as he held her very close in his thin arms. She only fussed for a few moments before she settled and began to nurse gently.

Yuri sighed as he began to rock back and forth in the chair, listening to the sounds of his baby's breath as she sucked and gulped. She was actually pretty loud. She must have been hungry. He let out a breathy, little laugh as he tried to get comfortable while holding her there. His blue eyes glanced over to the bed; it probably would have been a good idea to bring one of those pillows over so he could rest his arm while he fed her.

He sat there for some time in the rocking chair and let her nurse. He only rocked them both back and forth slowly, but otherwise he tried to stay as quiet and still as possible.

With his finger, he felt the bag inside of the bottle to see if it had emptied. It seemed that she fell asleep again. Rather than eating, she had been sucking on the nipple for the majority of the time. She made no complaint as her father pulled the bottle from her so he took that as a good sign that she was done even if she hadn't eaten very much.

With a sigh he hoisted her onto his chest and lay her on her belly so that he could rub circles on her back. He leaned back and turned his gaze upwards at the dark ceiling, taking that moment in utter silence to contemplate the chain of events that led him there. How did it go again?

If he closed his eyes he could just make out the feel of the base from the music in the background. He could feel the buzz of the alcohol, could smell her floral perfume, taste the chemicals of her red lipstick. The memory would neither be a cherished one nor one that would be embarrassed to revisit in his private time; instead, after the birth of Marina, it would be a bittersweet memory, meaningful and somber.


	4. Chapter 4

_Fabulous readers,_

 _Thanks for waiting, you guys. I accidentally bit off more than I could chew with the few stories that I started. Oops. #noregrets._

 _Just a future note. Camp NanoWrimo starts in July so I might be extra slow with my updates for the next month._

 _Thanks for reading, everyone! 3_

Now this was more of Yuri's speed. It was dark, cool, and spacious down in the latest nightclub in London. It reeked of alcohol so Yuri's first knee-jerk reaction to it was to wrinkle his nose in distaste, but he willed himself to get over. He wasn't one to drink much mainly because he could never really could get his hands on it willy nilly, obviously. He was only just freshly turned 17.

The teen was truly in for a treat. Technically he wasn't even supposed to be there in that nightclub, but when you're tagging along on Victor Nikiforov's coat tails then a variety of doors have a habit of opening; honestly, Yuri was surprised to see that old man and his equally as old lover still went out and did anything fun. Well, it was a special occasion. Victor insisted that he let him and Yuuri take him out for a small celebration.

Yuri only agreed if the older man would take him to drink. He was tired of waiting to do adult things. He didn't want to wait a whole nother year just to finally be a legal drinking age.

Yuri made a loud groaning sound as he at last plopped down into a big seating area at the very back of the club. The leather sofa groaned underneath him and continued to whine whilst he leaned back and kicked his feet up onto the lounge table between him and the mirror seat across from him on which Yuuri and Victor seated themselves.

Victor wrinkled his nose and swatted at Yuri's shoe. He rapedh is knuckles a few tiems on the hard sole of his foot as he spoke loudly over the music. "Yuri, this is a nice place. Don't act like some neanderthal."

In reply, Yuri rolled his head back on his shoulders whilst he scraped his feet heavily across the table until they fell from the surface with a loud thump onto the floor. "I didn't agree to come with you two so that you could pretend to be mommy and daddy with me again," he groaned with the most unflattering look on his youthful face.

Victor choked out a laugh as he cocked his head to the idea. "If you were my son you could bet your ass that you'd be way more behaved and proper gentleman, not….. Whatever you are now; a teenage brat?" he said as he leaned forward and gestured at all of Yuri, only teasing out a half amused expression from the young athlete.

"What? You going to beat me? Bitch, keep that kinky shit between and your man over there," Yuri tossed back at the older man without missing a beat. He was always full of piss and vinegar so he was ready to tango whenever someone wanted to push his buttons. He smirked.

"Wow, aren't you two all ready to go," Yuuri said as he slapped his hands on his knees. He rubbed his palms on the black material of his pants before he stood abruptly. "May as well throw some alcohol on the fire," he said as he wiggled out from where he had been blocked in by his boyfriend.

"Yuuri! Please get me my favorite!" Victor said as the two casually exchanged touches whilst Yuuri passed by.

"Oi, I don't know what I'd like, yet. Don't get me anything gross….. Or anything too frilly!" Yuri called to the other's back. Sadly, he received no reply from his competitor; either Katsuki couldn't hear him or he actively chose to ignore him with the intention of buying him whatever.

Yuri stitched his blonde brows together as he half scowled. "It better be tasty whatever it is that you bring me back, then," he shouted after him. He hated the standard taste of alcohol. As an underage teenager, he couldn't afford to be choose on most occasions, but this time he could afford to be a little lavish. He didn't have to worry about anything. He glanced over at Victor who was wiggling his jaw back and forth, obviously wanting to say something. "Wa?" Yuri said as he gave the older man an unamused look.

"Don't call too much attention to yourself. Just because we were able to get you in here doesn't mean you can go acting like you're entitled to be here. We can still get in trouble. You're not 18 yet. Don't make me regret this," he said as he raised a silvery brow upwards. It was just a cautionary warning on Victor's part, one that Yuri could respect.

Graciously, the blond nodded his head as he sat up. Of course he wasn't going to say thank you or anything, though.

At the small show of submission, Victor smiled and relaxed a little bit. "I trust that tonight will be a night that we won't forget. You're almost a man! And one with a bright future ahead of you too!" he cheered with an airy laugh.

"Ugh, please don't. Yeah; I have a bright future ahead of me because I worked hard for it," Yuri said as he jabbed a thumb into his chest. "And I'm not _almost_ a man. Age is arbitrary. I _am_ a man. I have a career, I work hard, I'm responsible," Yuri went on, only pausing at the last part when Victor gave him a cheeky look.

Yuri glanced to the side, "mostly," he muttered with a small margin of guilt.

Victor laughed at the young "man" and proceeded to wave down his lover from over the sea of people that were beginning to fill the room and mingle on the dance floor.

Yuuri nodded towards his table and wiggled through the the bodies, juggling three drinks in his hands.

"Ten dollars says he drops one of those drinks," Yuri said.

"Deal; I'm that man's coach. I _know_ he can move with grace," Victor belted out as he looked at Yuuri was hopeful eyes. No sooner than the bet was made did the faithful little Yuuri teetered one of the drinks in his hand and sloshed half of the liquid onto his pant leg.

Yuri was never one to practice grace whenever he won something. Tears clung to his eyes as he laughed with all of his tiny might. He double over, clutching his stomach as it began to stitch with the force of his laughter. "Pay out, you fruit!" he snickered towards Victor.

Victor sniffed as Yuuri arrived and passed out the drinks to the men at the booth. He knew Yuri was laughing at him so he chose not to acknowledge him as he sat down with his own half-full beverage. "Yuuri, you should-"

Yuuri held up his hand, insisting that his lover hush. "I don't want to hear you. You're not my coach right now," he insisted. "Let's just toast to Yuri," he said as he held up his drink.

"Okay, yes! Happy birthday, our dear Yurio!" Victor yelled as he held up his glass and simultaneously wrapped his arm around Yuuri.

Of course the little blond couldn't be thankful or anything; it wasn't in his nature. He groaned as he sat up a little straighter and scooted to the edge of his seat, extending his very short arm towards the other two. "Please don't act like my two gay dads," he grunted. "But thanks."

"Birthday? OMG," there was a high pitched shout from the side of them as they crashed their glasses together and began to drink.

Yuri nearly choked on his… whatever-it-was-a. He ducked his head downwards as he forced the liquid down his gullet quickly. He brought his hand to his mouth and wiped the moisture from it before he cleared his throat and smiled at a woman who was leaning near them with her own drink in hand.

"Y-yeah," he chirped. "My birthday actually."

"Today?"

"March 1st," Yuri confirmed.

"That's so crazy; me too!" the woman said as she leaned a little closer to their booth.

"No shit?"

"Right? March babies! I'll drink to that," she said as she held up her own drink.

"Yeah, totally," Yuri laughed as he clacked his drink against hers.

"Do you mind if we join you? Sounds like we need to party it up together," she asked as she gestured to two other women that were standing behind her conversing with each other.

"No; that's fine. Here," Yuri said as he scooted over and patted on the seat next to him. "Uh, this is Katsuki and Victor," he said as Yuuri and Victor gave him puzzled looks. Despite their confusion, though they moved over as well as the woman jabbed her friends in the side and shooed them into the booth with a flourish of giggles and fluttering skirts and blouses. "And I'm Yuri," he said. "Um, and you are?"

"I'm Micah; that's Rose, and she's Bernadette," the woman said as she gestured to her individual friends.

"You can call me Dotty, please," Bernadette said as she leaned a little closer to Yuuri with a cheeky smile. Yuuri, casually and politely, leaned away as he glanced to Victor then to Yuri as though he were waiting for direction. Yuri gave him a look that plainly said _play along or I'll fucking kill you._

The two men in the other seat across from Yuri whispered to each other before Victor stood and gave Dotty more room to sit next to his lover. How selfless of him, giving up his lover like that just so the two of them could play wingmen. Yuuri looked less than pleased, but he sat still none the less as Dotty leaned towards him and smoothed her skirt out over her legs and she seated herself.

Yuri eyed the two men at the booth suspiciously but took the subtle gift from his two friends and took the opportunity to scoot a little closer to the woman Micah. He smiled at her as she took a large drink from her glass.

"You have an accent; where are you from?" She asked sweetly as she brushed her red hair from her face.

"Oh, I'm from Russia, me and Victor that is," he said as he mirrored her movement and took a deep drink from his own glass; he didn't want to get left behind and from the look of it it seemed that he had some catching up to do, surly Micah had already been drinking.

"Wow! What brings you to London?" she said inquisitively.

"I'm training here," he said as he pointed a finger to Victor.

Micah glanced at him, understanding that Victor must then be his teammate or something. She swiveled her head back to look at him with bright eyes. "Are you an athlete?" she chuckled as she looked him up and down curiously, a look of skeptical amusement on her face. Clearly she was referring to his size and body shape with that glance of hers. Of course he wouldn't look like any sort of athlete, not a stereotypical one anyway.

"Ah-ha," he choked out as he gave her a warning look, silently daring her to crack a joke about his size. He didn't care how pretty she was; he'd tell her when to piss off. "We're figure skaters," he stated flatly, gesturing to the other two.

"Well that's different. You mean that you're the Yuri and Victor from the telly? I've heard some things; never seen you skate or anything, though. That's pretty cool; aren't you guys pretty famous?"

"Well obviously not famous enough," snorted Yuri.

"Famous has nothing to do with it," Victor scolded Yuri with a straightened index finger.

"Well fame is kind of nice," Yuuri added as he pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"Katsuki is a neat name," Dotty said with a doey-eyed look. "Kind of exotic inn'it? Are you Korean?"

"Japanese," Yuuri replied as he glanced away, anywhere away. He scrunched down shyly.

"Wow; you hardly have any sort of accent; you sound just like an American. Were you raised in the United States?"

"No; I just spent a lot of time going to school and training there. I train with Victor now here in London."

"That's nice," Yuri said, his face clearly displaying his distaste for the conversation topic.

"This guy gets it!" Rose laughed. "We came here to party. Two birthdays in one night!" she continued as she raised her glass, her girlfriends following her lead. "Drink up, Ruskies. You should be able to keep up with a few girls like us, right!?"


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, maybe Yuri had been too eager to catch up to Micah and her friends in the realm of drinking. He was only so big in addition to him not being as accustomed to drinking as the others. Things felt like they were sloshing around in his mind; if he tipped his head one way he felt like his thoughts would spill out of his ear! Cautiously, he glanced around at the others sitting at the booth with him before he smiled and let out a little giggle as he bent forward and leaned on Micah for support.

"Ah-ha! This one is definitely feeling it!" Shouted Rose. She, after all, had been the one that seemed to keep the drinks coming. Every time she snapped her fingers, a waiter came with more shots and drinks; it was like magic! She raised her pale hand in the air and snapped her fingers again to order another round.

"Are you not used to drinking or somthin'?" Micah asked as she too leaned closer to Yuri. "Oh I get it; it's because you're so little," she said as she squished her fingers together and squinted her eyes as she looked at the marginal space between them.

"Yeah; I'm fuckin' small. You're soooooooo funny for pointing it out like that," Yuri said. His words were mean, but he said them with a mild tone in his voice. He tried to look at her with a straight face, but he couldn't help but giggle again. Self consciously, he brought his hand up to his mouth to hide his cheesy grin. "Shit, what is this stuff?" Yuri asked as he looked at his glass.

"It's absinthe!" Rose yelled at him. "Drink up!"

"Holy! Rose. You're-like-sooooo awesome for keeping the drinks coming," Yuri said as he pointed at her.

"Yeah she is!" Victor said as he held his glass up in the air for yet another toast, probably the millionth one at that point in time, but everyone was just too drunk to notice. They all crashed their glasses together and sloshed booze all down their hands and arms before most of them polished off their drinks.

Yuuri coughed after taking a drink and knelt down to put his elbows on his knees. Both Dotty and Victor patted him on the back from where they were sitting.

"Oh poor love. Looks like Katsuki can't handle as much as we can. Must be because he's so tiny! Just like Yuri," she said as she looked over to Yuri.

"Yo! Quit pointing out that I'm tiny," Yuri yelled.

Similarly, Yuuri lifted his head and gave Dotty the most dangerous look that Yuri had actually ever seen before. "Oh-ho, hunny. You don't want to get in a drinking competition with a Japanese man."

Yuri laughed. "Right!? Katsuki, we may be small, but we're fuckin' powerful!" he said as he haphazardly teetered forward and raised his hand for Yuuri to give him a high-five. "'Sides," Yuri began as he leaned towards Micah next. "Me being tiny? It makes me for one hell of competitor in my career. Ask them."

"'s true; both of these two beat my records," Victor confirmed as he wrapped his arms around the backs of the seat and leaned into a relaxed position. "I'm okay with that."

"Wow, so you must be really talented," Dotty said as she turned to Yuuri and looked at him with wide, star-struck eyes.

Yuuri laughed. "I only beat Victor because he knows how to push my buttons."

"Gaaaaaaaaay!" Called Yuri from the other seat. He halted, though, when he felt a warm pressure push up high on his thigh. He shivered and glanced over at Micah with his lips pressed firmly together.

"You must have some moves, then. Because it's dancing, right?" She said as she gave his leg a squeeze. She leaned a little closer to his body.

Yuri, like the smooth mother fucker he was, leaned backwards, mirroring Victor's motion and wrapped his arms around the top of the seat, sneaking his arm up behind Micah's shoulders. Seamlessly she moved closer to his chest, her hand still on his leg as he replied. "It is dancing, ya. I've been taking ballet classes since I was a child."

"Do you do any contemporary dance? Or is it all that classical bullshit?" she asked with a breathy laugh.

Yuri chortled. "Yes I do contemporary dance too. Figure skating isn't always frills and classical music."

"I admire men who can do contemporary dance. What kind of music do you like to dance to?" she continued.

It was the strangest thing. He had felt giggly and giddy not but a few moments ago, but as soon as Micah put her hand on his leg like that it was the only thing that he could focus on. He didn't want to giggle or falter at all. He stared down at her for a few seconds, blinking as she shifted in her seat. With her movement, her blouse dipped low and revealed a moderate amount of her cleavage. Yuri blushed and looked away quickly.

"It's not a matter of liking certain kinds of music more over the other, but of a matter of being able to adapt to it," he said before he moved his hand to hers and covered it, giving it a squeeze as she dared to travel just a bit closer to his groin, "adapt to the right partner so that music and movements fit seamlessly together," he finished as he looked back at her.

Victor seemed to take notice of their movements together. He perked upwards and stared at Yuri with a mixture of alarm and confusion on his face. Yuri glanced over to him, but chose to ignore the expression on his face.

Micah continued to lean closer to him until her breasts pushed up against Yuri's slim chest. He shivered, his mind ignited with a feeling of drunken excitement. He looked down at her and sucked his bottom lip between his teeth and chewed on it as he gave her a sly look. She returned his gaze with one as equally as suggestive and lust filled.

"OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS SONG!" Yuuri shouted as he sat up straight, yelling from out of nowhere. He swiveled towards Dotty and grabbed for her hands. "Do you know how to dance!?"

"No?" Dotty said as Victor looked from his lover to Yuri, alarm bells clearly going off in his head.

Yuuir leaned over Dotty and smacked Victor a few times, insinuating that he wanted him to get up. "We should teach these girls how to dance," he said and he nearly lay flat on his belly against Dotty's lap.

"Oh! Yeah that's a good idea. Micah, Yuri can teach you how to dance…. Out there; on the dance floor; you look too comfortable-"

"What?" Yuri barked.

"What?" Victor replied as he looked around. He stood up, Rose following his lead. The older man laughed nervously as Yuuri less-than-gracefully floundered over Dotty's lap and hoisted himself up by using Victor's arm. "Too comfortable, uh, you know because you _teenagers_ need to keep moving or you become lazy, right Yuri?" he said as he put way too much emphasis on the word teenager.

Yuri shot him a warning glare. Micah, though, seemed to not notice. "Yeah, okay; well get up and dance if it'll get you to shut up," he said as he leaned forward and came to an unsteady stand. Too many drinks. He nearly toppled over onto the table; just about anything could throw off his balance.

Micah laughed and grabbed on his arm and kept him steady. "Nooooo; don't leave meeeee," she said as she hooked her arm up under his and dragged him towards the dance floor. "Wow, omg, you're so tiny," she said as she trotted forwards on her heels.

Yuri laughed as he grabbed for her and pulled her close to his body. He flashed a dangerous smile as he began to danced and lead her through the club. He was sure to drunkenly dance them away about as far and fast away from Victor as his slender legs would take them. "I'm not that tiny; you're wearing heels," he said as he tapped her heel with his shoe. "You're probably only about a few inches taller than me with those stilettos of yours off."

"Do you like them?" She gasped as she kicked out her leg and flashed her blue Vuitton's.

"Classy," Yuri laughed.

"You're too formal," Micah said as she yanked on his hands and pulled them down the length of her body. "I'm totally into you; so go on and hold onto me," she dared. "Or do you want to skip the formalities and get straight to the fun stuff? What was that about dancing with the right partner?"

"You have to be able to sync up with your partner's steps and rhythm, move your body as though two bodies are one," he said. "One, two, three; one, two, three," he said as he showed her a simple dance step with their bodies pressed so close together. He gripped her hips with both of his hands and rolled them so that her body swayed with each step both forward and backward.

Her hands, then, fell to his chest. She laughed as she pushed her forehead against his and nudged him, clearly wanting him to kiss her. Who was leading who? Yuri couldn't tell anymore. His head was all fucked up from the alcohol. He tilted his face upwards and pushed his lips against hers.

His thumbs smoothed across the bones of her hips while he wound their legs together. If he wasn't so drunk he would have tried to dance the tango with her just to be a show off, but one move would do enough surely. He grabbed for the meat of her thigh and hoisted it up onto his hip as he stepped and leaned back, supporting her weight against his body before he pushed up and allowed both of her feet to rest again on the floor.

She pulled her lips from his just as he was about to bite at her lip. "I'm not a patient person. Take me home?"

"Y-yeah, I'd love to," he replied as she had already begun to pull on his hands and lead him towards the exit.

Whilst he allowed her to tote him out, Yuri pulled his phone from his pocket and began to text.

 _Probably won't be home tonight so don't wait up for me.  
P.S Thanks for the drinks. _


	6. Chapter 6 Bonus

_Bonus chapter! Enjoy 3_

"Dammit Yuri!" Victor screeched as he looked at his phone. "That little," he paused while he tried to drunkenly think of an insulting name, "turd!" Hadn't he just told Yuri to lay low? He stomped his foot with frustration. Somewhere behind him, Yuuri swayed with Dotty and danced with her with a smile on his lips. Victor calmed himself as he looked at them. At least _someone_ was having a good time.

"Something bugging you?" Rose asked as she wiggled and swayed lightly to the music close by him.

"Yeah, little bit," Victor seethed as he showed Rose his phone.

"So? He's going to get laid; you guys did your job, right? Played wing-men; wasn't that the point?"

"The point was to let Yuri talk to a pretty lady, but he doesn't need to go home with anyone!" Victor said; saying the words only made them more dreadful. He brought his fingers to his face and clawed at his cheeks lightly, dragging on his skin and pulling his face down into a deeper frown.

"What's the big deal? You're acting like you're responsible for him."

"That's because I _am_ responsible for him!" Victor said as he grabbed Rose by the shoulders. "Yuri is still a minor."

A near cackle came out of Rose's mouth. She instantly brought her hand up to cover up the atrocious laugh. "Oh shit," she chortled as she grabbed for her phone immediately. "Is he your son or something?" She said as she pushed in her pin number on the flat screen.

"I'm not _that_ old," Victor said as he leaned on her and watched her tap a few buttons.

"Tell your friend that Yuri is still a minor; he absolutely cannot afford any bad press. If anyone catches him..." he said with a dramatic gasp. This was all his fault. He should have known better. That turd!

"Yeah definitely," Rose agreed. "Micah can't afford any bad press either. There; okay," she said as she pressed the call button on her phone-voicemail. "Shit!"

"Try texting her?" Victor said desperately.

"Right." Victor watched as Roses fingers flew across her keyboard. With lightning speed she sent one message after the other. "What about Yuri; can't you get a hold of him?"

Victor held up his phone and wiggled it as if that would aid to prove his point; "I already tried. He turned it off after texting me. He knows what he's doing is wrong and he doesn't want me to call him out on it. He knows that as a professional sportsman that he should be more cautious than just trotting home with some stranger."

"Yeah, Micah has had lots of go's with the press. Her acting career has-"

Rose was cut short, though as Yuuri inserted himself into the conversation. "Here, Dotty; you should watch me and Victor do it," Yuuri said from behind.

Victor's shoulder sagged a little bit. "Yuuri, I'm afraid that-" he cut himself off short as he felt the warmth of Yuuri's hand grab onto his.

"We said we'd teach these girls, right?" he said with a laugh. His glasses by that point in the night were hanging low on his nose, and his beautiful round face was already flushed from all of the drinking. He had that same look in his eye that Victor had fallen in love originally. He smiled and let Yuuri whisk him around. "See, like this. One, two, three; one, two, three," he laughed as Victor let his lover take him away from his frustrating emotions.

Yuuri looked up at him with a smile. "You looked like you needed a distraction."

"Oh Yuuri, you always know just what I need," Victor said with a smile as he danced to Yuuri's steps. "Whisk me away, far away from that brat for the night. He's such a-"

"It's okay, Victor. I've got you. Yuri has to learn on his own. He'll be okay I'm sure."

"You think?"

"You can scold him when he gets home. And then make him skate and skate until he can't skate anymore; hopefully he'll have a hangover."

"You always know just how to help me feel better." He said with a sigh as he leaned closer to his dear Yuuri.

"Yeah," came in simple reply as he patted his head whilst they slowed their dance from something formal to something more like saying and rocking.

Victor hummed; "We can still have a good night, right, Yuuri?"

"Of course," he replied as he pulled away from Victor and held him at arm's length. "In fact I was planning on making this night the best ever anyway," he said as he glanced down and began to dust off his pant leg.

With a finger Yuuri pushed his glasses up on his nose. He straightened his shirt and sunk down to one knee as he dove his hand into his pocket.

Oh no! Oh no, no, no! Victor clasped his hands over his mouth and gasped as Dotty and Rose gathered around. Instantly, Yuri's issue melted away and took a backseat in Victor's mind.

As much as he wanted to scream and interrupt Yuuri with his shower of yeses, Victor kept himself quiet and still as he watched in aw as Yuuri opened a small black box and revealed a ring that was far more beautiful than the last one he had gifted.

"Victor Nikiforov will you marry me?"


	7. Chapter 7

_Fabulous readers,_

 _*Exasperated inhalte* I've been low-key working my ass off to get to this scene. I'm so stoked to write it at long last!_

 _Um, so back in the day people used to get offended by hetero sex in yaoi themed stories so here's my warning I guess? Yuri's 'bout to pop that cherry of his! I remember that we used to say: Warning! Don't like, don't read! Is that even still a thing?_

 _I'll post a footnote at the end for those of you who'd rather pass. It'll be erotic, but it has purpose and there will be bits of plot development sprinkled in there both post and pre cotius. Oh la-la._

Was this really happening? Yuri's head was still spinning. He couldn't tell if it was the alcohol or the sheer excitement that there was a woman crawling into his lap whilst they rode together in the backseat of an Uber that drove them somewhere into oblivion. Yuri hardly even knew where they were going; he probably should have been paying attention, but he didn't care. Oh how he didn't care at all!

Micah's leg was draped over her thighs as she leaned against him, her breasts pushed up against his chest. He could feel them! Feel the shape of them, even the shape and structure of her bra!

All of the women he ever hung out with only ever wore sports bras. This was entirely new. He gulped down a mixture of his saliva and hers as he brought a shaking hand to her bosom. Her skin was a hot as his. He was gentle with his touch, so afraid of hurting her on accident; they were sensitive weren't they?

Holy shit! And that was only the beginning.

"Oi, you wankers. I don't need you makin' a mess back there, yeah?" Shouted a voice from the front seat of the car. Yuri jumped and yanked his hand away from Micah's breast. "You're here. I was real nice by letting you snog back there, so give me a good rating on the app, okay?" the man stated flatly as Yuri scrambled for the door and unfolded himself out of the vehicle.

"Will do!" he said as he pulled out his phone and instantly gave the driver credit that was due. "Thanks," he blurted out, his voice cracking and shaking as the Uber sped off into the night after Micah had climbed out into the chilly night air.

From beside him in a few moments she was twirling back and forth as she held onto his hand and began to tug on him. She laughed as he gave her a nervous, sheepish smile before he followed her like a helpless kitten into her building.

"This is a really nice place you have here," he commented as he looked around her flat after kicking off his shoes. It was one of those hoity-toity places that was probably super expensive just because he was aesthetically pleasing and nothing more. It was one of those great room kind of places; the lounge bled into the bedroom which then bled into the kitchen. No walls; well barely any walls at least; there was a wall for cabinets that separated part of the lounge from the kitchen.

She was a ways ahead of him, removing her own heels and taking her earrings from her ears. All in one move she removed her jewelry and unpinned her hair, releasing her red locks down to spill across her creamy pale shoulders.

Yuri gulped as he followed her a ways she walked towards the bedroom.

"Wait here," she instructed as she turned and pushed on his chest so that he fell backwards onto a chair in the living area.

He was tapping his leg up and down as he looked all about the room, taking note of several trophies and a collection of pictures of Micah, head shots and things of the like, pictures of her on the red carpet, pictures of her standing on stage. So she was a well to do actress apparently. Yuri whistled as he stood and reached for one of her awards.

"They aren't much, not like a Grammy or Emmy or anything. I'm hoping to branch out into movies soon. I have a few things in the works," came Micah's voice as she emerged from her bathroom.

Like he had been caught doing something wrong, Yuri quickly put the trophy back and tucked his hands behind his back like he hadn't been doing anything.

She snickered as he drank in the sight of her. Wow; she really was a knock out. In the time that she had been gone she had obviously freshened up and removed her dress in the process. She was now wearing a flattering bit of lingerie that complemented the curvy shape of her body and accented her in all of the right places.

Drunkenly, Yuri oogled at her, blinking a few times and stuttering, knowing not what else to do or say.

Micah snickered as she began to tip toe backwards, gesturing to Yuri with a single finger in a come hither motion.

 _Please don't let me fuck this up_. He was an utter virgin; just about an hour ago he hadn't even kissed anyone before and now he was about to delve into a woman's sheets and lay claim to her. Yuri followed her, his shaking hands removing his shirt and casting it away with youthful haste.

"Me-ow," Micah purred as she grabbed for him by the belt loops and tugged. With a hand she pushed her fingers along his toned muscles. He wasn't ripped, but it was plainly obvious that he was very athletic by the sculpt of his abdomen and pectoral muscles.

"Please don't; you sound like my psycho groupies," he said as he crawled atop of her and loomed over her body with carnal desire. He stooped low and kissed at her as her fingers toyed with his pants.

"Okay; I'll keep my purrs to myself; but hot damn, son are you delicious," she said against his kiss.

"Yeah? What happened to me being cute and little?" Yuri said as he twitched with delight in reaction to her touch. He yanked at her legs and hoisted one high on his hip so that his hand could crawl all the way from up her calf, to her knee, to the inner meat of her thigh.

"I take it back," she moaned as Yuri's hands pushed along the inner curve of her hip, traveling dangerously close to the heat of her sex. She was really warm down there; it was driving Yuri crazy, but he had to keep some of his composure at least. He didn't want this to go too fast. That was really hard, though, with the dull ache of being inebriated and horny influencing him to do everything else but go slow. 'Slow' was not in his vocabulary in that moment.

Further up his hands crawled: to her belly, her ribs, her breast again. He touched every bit of skin that was available to his fingertips. Eagerly, Yuri pulled her upwards so that he could unclasp the hooks of her bra, snapping them open quick and with a single skillful hand. As he slipped the straps from her slender shoulders she breathed out a shudder. "That's impressive."

"Lot's of practice," Yuri muttered, meaning that he knew because he had to undress himself out of equally annoying outfits after matches, not because he had ever undressed a woman before. His lips fell to her collarbone, to her chest, to the tops of her bosom, to her nipples and with each kiss she clutched to him tighter and tighter and emitted pleasurable sounds of delightful anticipation before he nipped and licked at her lovingly with only a small amount of greed..

She fell backwards onto the bed with him in tow, her fingers wound in his blonde hair and her legs locked around his waist.

He had to know what it felt like! He needed it, needed her. As he kissed at her, he rid himself of his pants and lay bare before her; he only pausing for a moment when he pushed a bit of her panties away and brought himself dangerously close. He gritted his teeth, not wanting to pause, but willing himself to do so.

"D-do you have a condom?" he panted, trying oh so desperately to be at least somewhat responsible.

"It's okay; I'm on birth control," he heard her say. That was all he needed; surely that was good enough.

Heaven. Bliss! Her warmth enveloped him and sent him higher than the heavens. He moaned as he curled downwards towards her and held her legs tight around his waist as he made love to her.

Honestly, he couldn't count how many times he came that night. Their relations seemed to go on for a beautifully long amount of time. The sheets below them twisted around their bodies and by the end they were reduced to nothing but tangled limbs.

The both of them were exhausted, satisfied. Yuri's muscles were sore, his back was all torn to shit from her nails, and he felt like he had been drained of all energy. He collapsed beside his new lover and was asleep as soon as his head hit the mattress.

He didn't know what time it was when he heard a screech echo through the flat. In a rush of fear and anger; Yuri popped up onto his forearms and swiveled his head all around. "What?! What's wrong?" he said as he instinctively moved towards Micah with the intention of protecting her from whatever it was that had her fretting.

When he realized that Micah had been screaming at her phone and nothing more, he eased up and rested his chin on her shoulder as he looked down at the screen in her hands. She jerked away from him and crawled away, turning her body towards him and pointing at her phone.

"How OLD are you?" she seethed as the hand that was clutching her phone began to shake.

Yuri scratched the back of his head. Yep, this was one of those consequences that he definitely did not think about beforehand. "17," he muttered.

"No, like freshly turned 17 as of yesterday, or you turned 18 yesterday and you just forgot."

Yuri was silent for an uncomfortable amount of time before he begrudgingly admitted what Micah was afraid to hear. "Freshly turned 17."

"You! Why wouldn't you mention that before!?"

"Because I was drunk and you were hanging all over me?" That was a shitty excuse, but he didn't know how else to defend himself. He was starting to get a headache.

"I thought you were in your 20's. Isn't that what the telly was saying about the Victor and Yuri couple or whatever?"

"No that's the other Yuuri," he stated matter-of-factly. "I, uh, didn't introduce him as Yuri. I introduced him as Katsuki for simplicity's sake. He's Yuuri Katsuki; I'm Yuri Plisetsky."

"There are two Yuris! Oh, of course," Micah said as she hit her head with her palm to add a dramatic effect to her derogatory comment.

"I'm sorry," interjected Yuri. "I'm a little confused. So you thought I was Victor's lover? But you got me caught up into having sex with you?"

Micah puffed out her cheeks to that comment. "I thought you guys were into it, like you were swingers. Besides women like gay men; it's a turn on."

"Okay, but _I'm_ not gay; and that's a really shitty reason to weasel someone into your bed!" Yuri screeched before she cut him off.

"This can't be happening right now. I swear if anyone took pictures of is on our way home," she stated, her voice shaking with rage.

"Calm down; I'm sure no one saw us last night. We'd already hear about it if they did. What does your Twitter say?"

Micah quickly began tapping away on her phone and scrolled with such speedy ferocity. She sighed and set her phone down beside her with relief. "Nothing is floating around on social media so far."

"That's good," Yuri said with equal relief. "Okay, so we'll just-"

"Just what? You need to leave, like, now," she said as she began to claw at her sheets and tried to hide her nakedness from him.

Yuri, ever the blunt one, narrowed his eyes. "Really? You're going to start acting modest now because of my age? I've already been everywhere around on that body; so you don't need to hide yourself like you're ashamed."

"I _am_ ashamed," she admitted. "You're underage!"

"Barely. And besides the age of consent is different than the age of adulthood in most countries. How far are we apart in age anyway?"

"I'm 27, Yuri; I'm 10 years your senior. And you need to leave and we're just going to pretend this never happened."

"What!?" Barked Yuri. "You can't just wish this away. Fine, have a one night stand with me because of some weird kick that you got out of it. I don't care about that, but don't kick me out under the pretense that you're suddenly so moral." He was crawling out of the bed and scrambling for his clothes angrily. "Don't invite strangers to have sex without first bothering to get to know them or get your story straight. Otherwise shit like this ends up happening," he shot back at her as he yanked his pants on and snatched for his socks.

"Thanks for the quick fuck, I guess," he said as he haphazardly pulled his shirt on and saw himself out the door, slamming it behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

_Fabulous readers,_

 _Can I just say thanks really quick for your tolerance of my sloppy mistakes. For the life of me I can never catch all of my typos no matter how many times I edit. You all offer me such nice compliments and whatnot. Thanks! o3o_

"What a hag!"

Little Yuri found himself thinking that over and over as he trotted down the stairs from Micah's flat. He had his hands shoved in his skinny jeans and his head turned down to watch where he was going.

Consequence number 2: he didn't rightly know where in the fuck he was in London. He squinted with a disturbed looking expression as he stepped out into the early morning light. He looked up like he was some nature savvy individual, expecting to be able to tell the time by observing the sky. Looked like it was early. The sun had not yet come up, but it was no longer night as indicated by the soft hues of pinks and blues. It would have been pretty if he wasn't in such a fowl mood. "Peh," he dismissed. It was too fucking early. That's what time it was.

God, he had such a bad taste in his mouth, and his stomach was beyond being just queasy. He couldn't tell if it was because he was upset or because he was hungover. Probably both. He smacked his lips together, wanting to rid himself of the taste of old booze from the night before. Consequence number 3: he was crusty, smelly, and had to endure the walk of shame at some ungodly time in the morning.

Please don't let that be a number 4. He extracted both his phone and his wallet from his pants, half expecting his shit to be left up in Micah's apartment. Good, at least he had all of his things. But the true test of fate was whether or not his phone had any battery left. He couldn't remember for the life of him what percentage of life it was left with when he turned it off last night with the intention of shutting Victor out of his terrible life choices. Fuck, he didn't want to call Victor and ask him to come get him. Another Uber? A cabby?

He pushed the power button to his life line….. nothing. Consequence number fucking 4. Yuri groaned and slammed his phone down against his pant leg as he emitted a groan, his face turned upwards to the heaven. "Okay I get it, God. I screwed up. Forgive me, for I have fucking sinned," he said as he slapped the sides of his his legs quickly. Nobody ever said he was a good Catholic. He was more of the ask for forgiveness than ask for guidance kind of person.

He muttered; better get to walking. Somehow he would need to find a main road. It was too damn early for there to be a plethora of cabbies roaming about in the side streets. He looked up again and looked along the skyline of buildings, hoping to catch glimpse of where he might be, anything, the top of St. Mary Axe, or The Shard, some smackeral of a clue!

They must have been out in the suburbs somewhere, butt-fuck-nowhere in other words. "Fuck me," Yuri muttered as he hung his head on his shoulders and shoved his hands deep into his pockets again, kicking the ground harshly with the souls of his feet as he dragged himself down the sidewalk begrudgingly.

There was a loud roar of a motorcycle from behind him. It was quiet at first, then grew louder until the engine cut and the street was silent once more. Yuri's shoulders twitched in response to the noise of the engine as it died.

"Wait, Beka?" came his yelp as he turned around on point. "What are you doing here?!" he asked as he began to trot towards the man on the motorcycle. He could recognize that helmet and jacket just about anywhere; it was Beka. It had to be. Talk about a sight for sore eyes.

Otabek looked confused as he removed his helmet. "Uh," was the sound that he emitted as he looked at Yuri.

"Did Victor send you to come chasing after me?" Yuri asked as he instantly moved to the motorcyclist's side.

Beka looked less confused after Yuri spoke to him. "Uh y-yeah, I just didn't think I'd find you somewhere so obscure," he said as he looked up at the apartments. "Rough night?"

"Can you take me to get some coffee, please." That was Yuri's way of confirming what the other had been questioning. He gave Beka a pout as the older of the two shifted on his bike and handed his helmet over to Yuri.

"Sure, of course. Hop on," he invited as Yuri immediately swung his leg around and shifted his weight to straddle the seat behind Otabek. instantly hooking his arms around him and pushed his cheek against the muscles of the Beka's back.

Yuri exhaled a relieved sigh as he felt the engine kick to life and run for a few moments before Otabek balanced their combined weight and shifted the gear from neutral.

Riding around on the back of that bike always did offer Yuri some peace and gave him a chance to think and reflect on himself somewhere else that wasn't the ice rink. Being on a motorcycle was the best excuse to be so close to another person's body whilst not having to be pressured to talk. He was somebody to hold and the excuse was perfect. Essentially it was the best kind of hug for Yuri because it wasn't really a hug. Beka had questions no doubt; instead, Yuri could sit and collect his thoughts whilst he clutched to Otabek and enjoyed the warmth from his body.

It seemed that they were traveling for a long while without any destination or purpose; at least from Yuri's perspective that's what it seemed. Perhaps Otabek already knew that Yuri was still formulating his thoughts and emotions.

He only stretched his slender body off of the cycle when Otabek came to a stop against the curb outside of an old coffee shop. "Will this do?" he asked from over his shoulder as Yuri removed the helmet and shook out his hair. Ugh, greasy.

Yuri looked up. "Yeah."

"Good, because I know you're picky about your coffee."

"No I'm not," Yuri sniffed as he wrinkled his nose in distaste of the comment. Beka did not reply, but rather he gave Yuri a look that made the other want to shut up. He tilted his head downwards to avoid those eyes. "Let's just get something to drink; I have a horrendous headache and I just want to sit down somewhere and clear my head before I go back to the bitch fest that's waiting for me at home."

In reply, Otabek snorted as he kicked down the stand to the bike and dismounted.

"Was it really that bad?" Yuri could hear him ask as he stood close behind him in line at the coffee shop.

"Huh?" Yuri hadn't been thinking about having to answer any questions; usually Otabek didn't ask much. The guy was kind of a wait and see where things go kind of person. Yuri just always assumed that it was because Beka didn't like talking. "Uh, oh, yeah I guess?" he muttered more as a question to himself than an answer to the other. "Two doppios, please," he interjected, glad for the pause in their conversation. How much did Otabek know? He glanced to his side nervously as he fished out his wallet in order to pay the woman. Of course Beka was standing right beside him, waiting patiently for an answer. "Yeah," Yuri snapped really quick as he scooted away and grabbed for the two drinks at the end of the espresso bar.

"It was really bad?" Beka questioned for clarification.

"Uh, yes, I mean no? I don't fucking know!" Yuri said as he snorted and led the way to the nearest table. He kicked at one of the chairs to move it so that he could flop down and set the two doppio cups onto the table; one for him, and one across to him for Beka.

Otabek sat and looked at Yuri with a less than amused expression. He did not touch his cup, but rather he slowly removed his jacket and gloves as though he were preparing to be sitting there for a while. Yuri eyed him, raising his blonde brow as he began to shake his leg beneath the table's surface with anxious impatience.

"Well?" Beka asked patiently, implying that he was waiting Yuri to give him a proper answer.

"Don't tell me you're going to give me a lecture too," Yuri seethed.

"No; I just don't know what's going on. Fill me in." Though it was more of an order than a request.

Yuri made a grunting noise as he took a swig of his espresso, thankful for the taste of something bitter and hot. "I met a girl last night," he began. "Victor and Porky took me to get drinks at a new club."

"But you're underage?"

"Ya; Victor wanted to do something lame with me, like take me out to dinner. I said that I wouldn't do anything with him or his chew toy unless it was something fun. He figured that taking me out to get some drinks wouldn't be too harmful. I mean… I'm only a year away from begin legal anyway so it's not like it's a big deal."

"Obviously something else happened that is making this a big deal, though," Otabek interjected.

"So I met a girl and she and I were fooling around and one thing led to another and I-" Yuri paused and looked away while he chewed on his lip for a second, "may or may not have gone home with her and slept with her against Victor's wishes. He didn't get a chance to tell me no because I turned my phone off; now my phone is dead. If you hadn't showed up I wouldn't have had to walk around all morning trying to find a cabby." At that point he was trying to thin the air. He pretended to smile like the topic of conversation was no big deal.

Otabek looked less than pleased. "Was that your first time?"

"Sheesh; that's a blunt question even for you, Beka."

"Well?"

"Yes, it was," Yuri said with a stubborn sniff. "Cross that off my teenage bucket list, I guess" he said as he made an invisible checkmark in the air with his finger.

"Did you use a condom?"

"Oh my God; why are you asking me these things!?"

"Idiots do stupid things during their first time," Beka said; the tone in his voice was something that Yuri had not heard from the other before; not directed at him anyway. He sounded annoyed and worried all at the same time.

Still like a child, Yuri looked guilty and put his hands on the table. He looked down, defeated. "No, I didn't use any protection. But she said that she was on birth control," he said as he glanced up hopefully.

"So? There are other things that can happen besides getting her pregnant. Like a STD." Now Beka _really_ looked annoyed.

"I guess I didn't …. Think about that," Yuri replied as a sudden surge of terror jolted through his chest. From the way she had been talking earlier, it sounded like she did enjoy having a fun and wild sex life. He couldn't really shake it out of his head that she only wanted to have sex with him because she thought he was gay. What had he even been wanting? Where did he expect that exchange to go? She was really cute, and funny, and charming, and stylish... He wouldn't have minded dating her. Secretly that's where he kind of hoped they would have headed. Instead he got thrown out on his ass at the crack of dawn.

He chewed his lip as he blinked away a few tears and stared down at the table cloth. He felt a warmth fall upon one of his hands, but did not raise his head to look. From across the table, Beka had reached for his hand and was now holding it as an offer of sympathy. Yuri twisted his wrist and laced his fingers with Otabek's, thankful for the feeling of the other's thumb as it stroked his skin fondly. It was a simple display of comfort, but Yuri really did appreciate it more than Beka probably knew.

"She hurt you pretty good, huh?" Beka asked as Yuri held onto him.

"I get that sex is, like, this weird exchange sometimes, and some people don't want it for love, nor do they want commitment. But I thought she was classier than that. If I wanted a whore for my first time I would have actively sought a whore. I guess I don't know what I was thinking. I was kind of hoping that I'd get her number and we could continue talking. We didn't have to date, but I think I would have liked to."

"What happened? Did she just tell you to get up and get out?"

"No, she found out how old I was," Yuri said timidly. He was afraid of Beka's wrath and disappointment. He didn't want to disappoint Beka.

"Were you drunk?"

"Yeah. My head is killing me now," Yuri said as he glanced down at their hands; he was really hoping that the other wouldn't let go.

"We should probably take you to the doctor today," Beka said after a long pause. Rather than pulling his hand off of Yuri's he instead brought his other to press over the top of their laced fingers.

"Yeah, probably," Yuri agreed as he sighed dejectedly. "I don't think she's that much of a whore, but it's better to be safe than sorry I guess. Will you take me?"

"Of course," Beka said as she smiled and patted Yuri's hand. "Don't worry I've got your back."

"Ha-thanks, Beka."


	9. Chapter 9

_Fabulous readers,_

 _Pre-chapter explanation:_

 _Yuri's mom is grasping for her former glory days. In my head she isn't in his life because she has been too caught up in herself to actually be a mom and instead shirked the responsibility onto Yuri's grandpa. But now that her son has a baby of his own, she wants the glory of having 'been the one that raised her son." So she wants to be this hip grandmother figure because she's young for having a son Yuri's age. She wants to do everything she can to avoid being called grandma. So that's why I used the term Mamulya. If there's a better word for this exchange please let me know._

 _I'll just use my own mom as an example. She avoided the term grandma like the plague and instead requests to be called Gi-Gi. That is the same theme I'm looking for here, but in Russian._

With a jolt, Yuri popped his head upwards and instantly began to feel around for his baby. He didn't mean to fall asleep there on the chair; he just wanted to rest his eyes. Oh God he didn't accidentally crush her or something!? He jerked a bit and groped around his belly, feeling the smooth lump that was Marina.

Wphew, he relaxed for a second and leaned back into the chair again. How long had he gone out for this time around? Not long; it was just the wee morning hours; probably six or squinted at the clock resting near the hospital bed. He was so tired that he couldn't see straight. He stifled a yawn as he leaned forward. Marina was whimpering again, pawing and mouthing around his chest with the indication that she wanted to nurse. He had been up and down all night doing that. Every time he would try and lay Marina in her crib, she would put up a fuss and refused to let up until Yuri rested in the chair with her tucked up on his chest.

"You know; you're going to have to sleep in your bed eventually. I can't sleep in a chair forever. It's probably not very good," he said. What was all of that research about co-sleeping again? He'd be afraid of tossing and turning in his sleep and accidentally suffocating her. At the thought he cradled her closer and hugged her tighter as he stood at the sink of the hospital room and began rummaging around for the formula and bottles.

There was a knock at the door before it pushed open and Yuuri and Victor came into the room with flowers and balloons.

Yuri pivoted on his foot and narrowed his eyes as he looked the two up and down; they had such dopy looks on their faces as they ogled at Marina in his arms. "You guys; I told you no embarrassing gifts or shi-stuff like that. It's creepy. I'm not the one that gave birth, flowers and balloons should be for women who actually _want_ to be involved or-you know- for mothers who actually stick around," he muttered sourly as he shook the bottle and began to run it under hot water from the faucet.

"We remember, but these aren't from us," Yuuri said as he put a flower vase on the tray at the end of the bed. Victor held onto the balloons and walked over to the couch where he had been sitting for most of the day yesterday, giving room for a blond woman to come walking in. She had her hair tied up high in a ponytail and sunglasses posed atop of her head.

Yuri stiffened. "M-mother," he said as she looked at the empty bed. "Is Grandpa with you?" He asked hopefully as he craned his neck to see if he had been had been hiding behind her.

"He's parking the rental car; he'll be up. So she really did just up and leave you, huh? Kind of irresponsible of her. If you're going to make a mistake then at least own up to it and take responsibility for it," she said as she walked into the room.

Yuri held onto Marina a little tighter. "Don't call Marina a mistake like she's not a living being."

"Marina? You never did chat with me about name ideas. Did you name her or did that woman name her?"

Yuri curled his nose. "I named her."

"That's not a very Russian name. Why that name?"

"For personal reasons."

"Yuri, I'm your mother. I can know your personal reasons can't I?" she asked as she moved a little closer and went to look at Marina. "Don't be such a brat all of the time. You should respect me. I have given you life," she said as she took Marina from his arms.

"Hello little one. My, my son is too young, still my little baby; and now he has a little baby of his own. So sweet," she cooed softly as she stepped backwards, her heels making sharp clacking sounds as they hit the laminate flooring.

From over at the couch, Yuuri and Victor were whispering to each other.

"Victor, who is she?" he could hear Yuuri ask.

Victor leaned over to him and answered. "That's Yurio's mother, Alyona. She used to be a big time Russian actress in the 90's."

Alyona added as he looked up at to the two. "Blockbuster movies; that sort of thing. Romance movies mostly. Ah, but that wasn't so long ago and I'm not that old. Not old enough to be a grandmother anyway," she continued as she directed her attention back to the newborn in her arms. "So you can call me Mamulya. That's a good enough name I think."

"That's creepy don't call yourself that," Yuri said as he shrugged up his shoulders up in a harsh show of rejection.

Victor leaned over to Yuuri and spoke in a low tone, "she just used an endearing term for mama, not grandma."

"Why not?" Alyona asked.

"Because you're not her mother. If you don't want to be called Grandma then just start calling yourself by your first name. Just don't teach Marina to call you any derivative of mother in reference to yourself," he said just as an older man entered into the room after removing his hat.

Rather than arguing with her son, Alyona looked to the two on the couch before she directed her attention to Yuri whilst he was distracted. "Is it her feeding time? Here I'll help," she said as she grabbed for the bottle in Yuri's hands and then retreated to the bed.

Yuri did not care what she did so long as she didn't call herself mommy ever again. He walked past her and outstretched his arms to his Grandpa, wanting nothing more than to be hugged by him. He had been so ashamed to talk to his grandpa during Micah's pregnancy; he was so afraid that he had let the man down, but seeing him then, he wanted nothing more than just to be held by him. Yuri was, after all, still but a child.

"Yuri; I am so proud of you!" he could hear the older man say with a gruff voice against his shoulder. "You taking responsibility. You're going to be a fine father," he continued as he parted their hug and directed his attention to the baby. "And look at you! Such a fine little baby. So pretty. Look at those eyes," he cooed. "You should be happy Alyona, you having Yuri at a young age made me a young Grandfather and now I'm a young _Great_ Grandfather! Imagine that! I'm going to be around for a good long while, little one," he said.

"So where are you going to live? What are you going to do? You've already refused me and your Grandfather several times to come back to Russia with us. Your skating career is over for now; so why stay here in London?" Alyona said curtly, acting as though it were her God given right to have that privileged information. Yuri couldn't be fore sure, but it sounded like she was a little bit happy that his life was quickly becoming just a mirror image of hers: pregnant too early, career ruined, dependent on others totally. He would become nothing like her.

Yuri scowled. "I'm staying with Victor and Yuuri right now," he said as the two in question stiffened on the couch. Clearly they were regretting their having been in the room with the Plisetsky family.

Alyona looked over at the two then back to her son. "Surely you can't expect to stay with these two forever."

"No, but they have offered to help me. Victor is still my coach and will continue to be my coach. The whole point in living with them will be so that I can continue with my skating career. We more or less have a plan figured out."

"And I'm supposed to be comforted by that notion? Three bachelors are going to take care of my Granddaughter here in London so far away from her home country?"

Yuri's grandfather reached out and patted the woman on the shoulder. "Alyona; Yuri is a man. He can make decisions for himself."

"Oh, hardly a man. Since when?"

"And by the way, miss, um, we aren't just bachelors," Yuuri interjected from where he was sitting on the couch. "Victor and I are married and we've been caring for your son for the past year and a half. So it's no trouble."

Bold. Yuri crossed his arms and popped his hip as he shot a glance back to his mother after he nodded in approval to Yuuri. "Sorry, but I'm not going anywhere. I have work to do still."

"I'll respect your decision, but I hope it's worth it in the end." Abruptly, Alyona stood and gently passed Marina off to Yuri's grandfather. She shot Yuri a look of disdain. "I've got to go. I have some things to do," she excused.

Yuri rolled his eyes. She was playing the victim card naturally. He rolled his gaze back to her and cocked a quick smile. "Thanks for coming to visit, Mother."

"I'm tired so I'm going to go get my things ready at the hotel. Don't worry about me, Papa. I'll just get a cab to the hotel," she said as she walked out of the room, though Yuri's grandfather paid no attention to her as she left, but rather he spent his time looking at Marina and cooing at her.

Yuri snorted, but his facial features softened as he looked at his grandfather and smiled.

"So that's your mother," Yuuri piped up as he finally felt secure enough to stand up and trek a little closer to Marina and her great grandfather. He smiled as he watched her nurse from her bottle.

"My daughter is a sensitive woman. Her vanity is very fragile, but then again she's always been like that, ever since she was a little girl," Nikolai said without looking to Yuuri. "She'll come around."

"Nikolai, you're the one that raised, Yuri, right?" Victor said as he stepped up beside his husband.

"Yes; I'm the one that raised little Yuri. When Alyona had him, it broke her entirely. She was alone save for me. Seems it must be a family curse I'm beginning to think," he said as he glanced up at Yuri who then looked away with a hot blush on his cheeks. "It broke Alyona mentally to think that she had been cast into that position of motherhood.. So I took on Yuri while she built up her career. So he is both my son and my grandson. That's the short story anyway," he ended as he looked back at the two nosy skaters that were leaning on the bed.

"Yuri never talks to us about his past or his childhood, but he always talks highly of you! We've never hear anything about his parents. We had no idea that was his mother!" Yuuri said with a gasp as Victor nodded in confirmation.

"Would you stop talking about me as though I'm not here? Yuri snorted as he sat on the bed next to his Grandfather. "Did you really mean what you said about me being a good father?" he asked, needing to know, needing to have that affirmation from the only parental figure he ever known.

"If you're asking me if you're anything like your mother, then I can tell you with pride that you take more after me than you do her. You'll do fine, child," he said as he reached out and patted Yuri on the cheek. "If you want to keep skating while being a parent, and you think you can do it, then I believe in you, but don't sacrifice parenthood. You're mother regrets that she did. That's part of her struggle now."

"I'm not like her; I won't just dump my daughter off on someone so I can pursue a dream; a dream is empty without someone to share it with. Now I can share my dream with both you and Marina," he said as he reached up and put his hand a top of his grandfather's. Yuri craned his head towards the direction of affection and breathed a sigh of relief. He felt more confident after hearing his grandfather's voice and comforting words, like he really could do this.


	10. Chapter 10

_Fabulous readers,_

 _I'm itching to weave Beka into the story a little more. I'm also itching to do the next chapter. So stoked right now! I had to get this out of the way. Have some fluff *loves*_

Yuri was standing in the middle of the room later that morning with Marina carefully tucked in his arms. He was crouched over a car seat whilst he was trying to figure out how in the world he was supposed to get her fastened into it with her poofy coat covering most of her body.

She complained feebly as he fussed with her. As he tried to manipulate her, she then in turn twisted her body in any way possible in order to make Yuri's task all the more complicated. "Baby girl, come on we've got to go home now," Yuri was muttering as he buckled her into her seat and fussed with her onsie coat. He made sure that her hood was up and snug around her head so that she wouldn't get cold in the December chill outside.

He smirked as he played with the stitched on teddy ears to her coat. "You look like a teddy bear," he chuckled as he stood and adjusted his own coat. "Okay," he said as he patted his jacket pockets to ensure that he had everything.

Yuri crouched once more and hoisted up the baby seat and balanced it on his slender hip as he adjusted himself to counter for the extra weight.

His grandfather was already downstairs and waiting at the entrance to the hospital with Yuuri and Victor who had already piled all of the stupid favors that he had collected from well-wishing fans, friends, and family.

If trying to get Marina in the carseat in the first place seemed like an impossible task it was even more so to try and get her seat into the car and fastened down enough to Yuri's liking. He kept screwing with the seatbelt and tried to tighten it well beyond its physical limits. He sighed as he scrunched in the back seat and placed his arm over the seat as he check on her to ensure that she was alright.

"You can sit up front if you want, Yuri," Victor was saying from the door.

"Nope. I'll sit here, thanks," he replied stiffly as he looked at her. Was she too hot? Too cold? He adjusted her teddy bear outfit and stroked her cheek with a single finger.

"Yuri, you're being too cute right now," Victor laughed lightly as Katsuki crawled into the seat next to him and snuggled in close while Victor himself motioned into the front seat.

"Oh my God; don't call me cute," he seethed as his grandpa began to drive away.

"But it's true. You're such a good father already. It's amazing to see this side of you," Victor continued.

"Hmmm." Yuri did not feel like replying, rather he turned his gaze outwards and look on at the passing cars. It was sleeting out, cold, damp, and dark, just like Russia in the winter. It was only during this time that he ever felt homesick, but with his grandfather with him he at least didn't feel so lonely. "Do you think Mom will come to visit us any time soon? Or do you think her showing up was just for show?" he asked his grandfather.

From the seat diagonal to him he heard the gruff man cluck his tongue from behind his bushy mustache. "I think you hurt her feelings. She'll come around; she won't be able to stay away. She always did wish she had a little girl. Now she more or less has one."

"Feh," Yuri snorted at first before he spoke. "I can't be the nanny of her emotions. She can't go around acting creepy and entitled when she didn't do anything to deserve respect."

"Harsh," Yuuri said from beside him.

"Change of subject!" Victor said as he twisted around in his seat and beamed at Yuri with that stupid optimistic smile of his. "We should be happy! Yuuri and I have a surprise for you at home. It was a rush job, but I think we managed just fine. Otabek helped us so you should thank him when you see him next," Victor chimed with that fatherly tone of his.

"Yeah?" Yuri said as he wiggled and pulled his phone out of his jeans. He swiped through his messages, wondering if he had missed out on anything in the time he had been pent up in the hospital.

It felt like forever, but it had only been about a day or so since he had last talked to Beka. He shook his leg as he read through their conversation from the night Micah had been in pre-labor.

Beka: How are things?

Shitty. Micah's water broke well over 6 hours ago now and we still aren't in active labor yet.

Beka: That long?

I guess that's normal for a first time pregnancy. They really had a bug up their asses about her staying here. They didn't want to admit her into a room until she was dilated a certain number.

Beka: That's stupid. How are you holding up?

I'm scared shitless, Beka…. But I have to man up and just power through it….

Beka: You'll be okay, Yuri. You have a good heart and you have all of us to help you.

I'm just nervous about making this next skating season work around having a newborn.

Beka: Do you think you're still going to try for the olympics?

I don't know. I worked so hard for it….

Beka: Don't worry too much about it for now. You still have a few months to decide. It's late. You should get some sleep while you still can.

Yeah, okay, fat chance of that. Micah sounds like a dying cow. She's been moaning for the past few hours now.

Beka: Ha-ha. Harsh. You guys are officially broken up, then?

….Ya

Beka: Did you get custody of the baby?

Yes.

Beka: I'm sorry it didn't work out with her, Yura.

*sigh* Thanks, man. I'm bummed out it didn't work either.

Beka: Did you love her?

I don't know anymore. I thought I did. Maybe I was just infatuated I guess?

The messages dwindled off from there. At the time it was getting late into the night and Beka needed to go to bed.

Yuri wiggled in his seat as he twisted his body and angled his phone upwards so that he could take a picture of Marina in her car seat. He smiled as he tapped a few buttons on his phone and attached the picture to Beka's text conversation.

Thanks for the outfit. She looks so cute in it! 3 3

He snorted a short laugh through his nose as he began to type a bit more and posted the picture to his instagram as well, wanting to share his new cute baby girl with the world that followed him on social media.

Upon arrival, the house that Yuuri and Victor had purchased together was silent. A small laminat of snow dusted the windows and grass. "Our home looks so pretty, doesn't it?" Victor said as he closed the door to the car and inhaled the cold air. He looked behind him as Yuri unhooked Marina and hoisted her up out of the car.

He shivered as he looked at the house. He had only just moved out of it a few months ago, then there he was….again. The freedom was nice while it lasted at least. He sighed. "Do you think the snow will stick?" he said as he looked at the frost tipped grass in the front yard.

"Mmmm, probably not," Yuuri commented as he closed the car door for Yuri.

"Yeah, you're right. It's not like Russia. The snow never sticks," he said with a sorrowful tone to his voice.

"Okay; like I said, it was a rush job, but we're all pretty proud," Victor was beginning as he keyed his way into the quaint, little town house.

"Uh-huh?" Yuri said as he kicked his shoes off at the door and walked into the house. "You guys unpacked a little more," was the first thing that he noted. "Looks nice."

"Uh, we unpacked all of it, Yuri. Come on, don't be a total jerk," Victor scoffed as he tossed his keys onto a nearby table. "So we set up your things in your room, and turned what would have been the office into...well you'll see. Go upstairs and look," Victor said as he jerked his head towards the stairwell that was in front of Yuri.

Yuri eyed the two, knowing now what the surprise was, but not knowing the extent of it. He patted Marina as he carried her up the stairs and gently nudged open the door to what used to be the office room.

Inside, his dearest friends had set up a nursery for Marina, fashionable and just in his tastes. His friends knew him well and paid attention to things that would matter to him even if it was seemingly little.

Her room was painted a neutral grey color and garnished with all of the adorable things that every little girl should have, flowers, bows, there was even a silhouette of a ballerina on the wall nearest her crib.

She had matching furniture: a rocking chair, changing station, crib, all of it was a dark oak color, highlighted by bright hues of yellow against leopard print blankets and sheets. "Aw, there's even a little tiger for her to sleep with," Yuri cooed as he walked in and lay her down on her new changing station.

"Your two uncles can be pretty cool I guess. What was that about my poor taste in fashion?" Yuri shot back at Victor who was leaning his shoulder on the door while he held Yuuri's hand. "Did you hear that, Yuuri, he called us her uncles," he chimed as he pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

"You, um, you know you can be more than that. I'd like for you guys to be that is," Yuri said as he began to take off Marina's coat.

"What do you mean?" Yuuri asked.

"I'd like for you two to be her godparents. If you'll accept," he said quietly and looked anywhere but directly at their stupid faces as the both of them began to grin from ear to ear. "I'd like to get her baptized so we can make it official then," he trailed off as he fidgeted nervously. It was the least that he could do, right?

"I had no idea you were religious," Yuuri said as he looked to Victor as if he were asking for some help in understanding. Did they not have baptisms in Japan?

Yuri raised and eyebrow as he shrugged his shoulders. "I am?" he replied more as a question as to why it even mattered. "Born and raised Catholic. Do you guys want-

"Yes of course!" Victor nearly shouted as he leaned forward from past the door frame.

Yuri smiled, "cool. We should get something underway soon. I want Grandpa to be there too. It doesn't have to be a big party or anything. Just something nice."

"You guys are going to have to teach me the ways of your western religion because I have no idea what this entails," Yuuri laughed as he began to walk away. "I'll go and get the rest of your things from the car; okay, Yuri?"


	11. Chapter 11

_Fabulous readers,_

 _So I'm building in some padding into the story and I'll preface it with my own explanation up here._

 _Someone did a total break down for YoI's timeline and I don't know if it's canon or not. I always just assumed that the anime was taking place in 2015-16 so I'm flying with that (that's the beauty of fanficiton I guess!). I'm writing in real time (er well real time as of March 2017). Yuri is on the track with for the Olympic games in South Korea in 2018. I'm just following down the line of men's short programs for 2017 as it was scheduled on television. The World Championships took place on March 31st this year so that's where we are sitting at in this chapter._

As weeks passed by, Yuri found it increasingly harder to keep his head on straight. Victor was sure to nag him relentlessly when he crawled home after the events on his birthday. Shouldn't have done something so stupid so close to the World Championship kind of bullshit. In the midst of all the bitching he didn't think that a one night stand would screw up his focus so bad. He tried so hard to convince himself that he was better than acting like some heartbroken teenager.

He was such a hot headed little fucker, though, that he fought hard to keep his cool and composure all during his time in Finland for the final haul of the season.

At the arena in Finland his slim chest was rising and falling erratically as he stared on up at the stands. Lights flashed from cameras and a spotlight rolled over the three stand podium in the center of the ring.

Yuri's vision was still blurry from the sweat on his brow. He was holding onto a bouquet of flowers and awaiting his silver medal; on the outside he looked tired and complacent, but on the inside he was screaming. The medal hung like an unnecessary weight around his neck. He stared down at his skates, taking note that his legs were shaking from having given them such a harsh beating towards the end of his program in order to try and make up for lost points. IN his mind he was an utter failure.

He wanted to mutter an obscenity, but thought better of it as he glanced up to Yuuri when the older skater held up his gold medal and smiled for the cameras.

"Great, so you'll retire now, right?" Yuri muttered as he threw his medal into his duffel bag and forcefully later that evening as the crowds and TV crews disbanded from arena.

"I thought you enjoyed having me as your competitor?" Yuuri hummed as Victor held onto him, ogling at his gold medal ever so proudly. Really, it was making little Yuri unbelievably mad. He narrowed his eyes. The two had just announced their engagement on live television as previously promised and sealed their promise with a kiss in front thousands of viewers.

There was a lot riding on Yuuri's shoulders for this medal. He wanted to marry Victor and their stupid agreement made it nearly impossible for Yuri to compete with him.. He growled as he flung his outfit into his bag and dug his clothes out as he replied to Yuuri's comment. "Sure, but you're getting too old; let the new generation live and you go die somewhere."

"Where was that fiery light tonight when you miss-landed your triple lutz, hmmm? Or is it because you have so much anger that you weren't able to focus; which was it Yuri? That was a sloppy mistake for you," Victor said if only to use the moment to be the teacherly one.

"Dunno," came the teen's simple reply as he pulled on his traveling clothes.

"Uh-huh. You're going to have to rewire your brain soon, Yuri, if you're going to want to have a shot in the Winter Olympics this coming year," Victor said nonchalantly, so much so that Yuri almost didn't register what he said for a split second.

The youngest of the skaters had on his backpack and was about ready to march out of the locker room when he stopped dead in his tracks, his sneakers making a loud squeak on the laminate flooring as he did so. He did an about face and stared at Victor with a wide eyed disbelieving expression.

From behind him, Victor was holding an envelope that no doubt held his acceptance into the Olympics. "Are you serious?!" he quipped as he grabbed for the letter and tore into it with greedy fingers. "What about you, Porky?" He shot as he looked to Yuuri.

"Yep," he replied with pride. "Looks like our competitive natures towards each other did us some good these last few seasons. I only just barely squeaked in though, I think. I'm sure you were a shoe in."

"But don't let that go to your head!" Victor snapped as he began to lead his small team out of the locker rooms. "You can still get cut with one wrong slip. So, excuse my language, cut your shitty attitude and listen to me."

Even days later Yuri still could not believe his fortune. Even after such a defeat at the championships that last weekend, he still held in his hand a confirmation that his hard work did pay off.

Yuri was leaning on the side guards of ice rink in London. He had long since finished with his stretches and was more or less just wasting his time during practice. At the moment he did not have a routine figured out for the upcoming season. And with Otabek freshly joining their team, Victor had plenty to preoccupy himself with than to nag at Yuri all afternoon.

From of the corner of his eye he could see the door to the rink open and close and a flutter of red. He sat up and looked across the rink to where a woman was standing. Immediately Yuri perked up and stared at her with a hopeful expression though he dared not show it. He swallowed a lump in his throat and pushed off from the guard where he had been brooding so that he could skate over to where Micah was standing and waiting patiently.

"Wow," she said as she looked over at Yuri's teammates; the ones who, thankfully, did not notice that Yuri had a visitor. "You look like you're just walking around with those on. You make it look so effortless. I could never do that," she said with a sorrowful sigh and a timid shake in her voice.

"It's not hard once you get the basics down. Um, I could… teach you if you want. Sometime," he said as he combed his fingers through his blonde hair if only to give him something to occupy his hands with. "Just an offer; like as friends or something," he finished quickly as he tapped the toe of his blade against the ice nervously.

She was staring at him as though she could not believe him. He had been overly insulting the morning he left her apartment. He gulped. "Look, about what I said. I would have texted you, but we didn't exchange numbers. And I felt like it would have been inappropriate for me to just show up on your doorstep.

"It was hot-headed of me to say the things that I did. I understand that you were upset. I'm sorry," he said, his apology coming so easily out of his mouth. It had been something that he had been holding inside for the whole month.

She released a shaky sigh. "C-can we talk?" she said as she held her arms as though she were cold.

"Sure. Um, like here or do you want somewhere more private?"

"More private?"

"Okay, follow me," Yuri said as he skated backwards and stepped up onto the landing of the carpeted floor. He snatched for his guards and shoved them on as quickly as he could, nearly tripping over himself in the process with a flourish of nerves and excitement.

She chuckled as he tripped and followed him as he lead her to the locker rooms.

"Is it okay for me to be in here?" she questioned as she walked in and looked around curiously.

"Yeah, the facility is booked for our skating block. Yuuri is designing a new routine for the Olympics and he wanted the rink more or less to himself so he could figure things out," Yuri offered as Micah walked into the room and sat down on a nearby bench. She tucked her legs under body and crossed them with lady like manners and neatly folded her hands in her lap. She glanced around nervously as she began to chew on her cherry red lip. For a split second it looked like she was about to cry.

Yuri furrowed his brow and followed her lead. He sat beside her and gently lay his hand on her back. "What's wrong?" All of his excitement drained away as he stared at her with concern. He watched as tears clung to her long lashes. She blinked a few times and looked at him with such a defeated expression.

"I don't know what to do; I don't even know how to tell you this," she began as her breath caught in her throat for just a second before she continued. She grabbed onto his hand and held tightly as she leaned closer. "I'm-" She stopped herself. Quickly, she wiggled around and started to dig in her purse before she pulled out a pink stick and handed it to Yuri.

Yuri stared as she fell to silence and left him to figure it out on his own. "This is positive?" he asked as he looked up at her with horror.

She nodded.

"You're pregnant?"

Again she nodded, this time her tears freely rolled down her cheeks. He was thankful that she gave him some time to think before he opened his mouth. Micah stayed quiet beside him while Yuri leaned over and put his elbows on his knees, holding the pregnancy test in his hands as lightly as if he were holding a baby bird. He dropped his head and stared down at his skates, a million things crashing through his mind like the oceans in a storm.

He was trying his best not to hyperventilate, but he couldn't help but quicken his breath as the sense of fear and dread overwhelmed him. He didn't know whether to cry or to scream. He didn't want to scare her, but in turn he also did not know how to handle himself. "I-" he paused as he flared his nostrils with an deep, angry breath, "though you said you were on birth control."

From beside him Micah broke out into a free sob. She hiccuped and hid her face behind her hands. "I AM…. I was! It's my fault. I didn't take them like I was supposed to," she moaned.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I think it's because I forgot to take them a few nights before. I didn't think much of it. Nothing ever happens when I forget. I just continued taking them…. But what was done was done; birth control doesn't kill a fertilized egg. It was just bad timing." She trailed off as Yuri shook with rage.

"What in the ever loving fuck is it good for, then?" he said as he leaned up and slapped his hands onto his face to hide his expression. "So you mean to tell me that you were irresponsible and now this has happened because you didn't take your medication on time?"

She shivered from beside him and hiccuped a somber admittance to her mistake. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I don't know what to do. I felt like you should know first so I came straight to you when I found out. I- this is as much as my responsibility as yours so I wanted us to make a decision together."

Yuri cocked his head to the side as he dragged his fingers down his face, elongating his expression comically as he thought about the fucked up way that sentence sounded. He would have fought that comment, but he was no more responsible than her that night. She was right about that. He took her word for it; he should have been smarter. "What decision can we possibly make? There is no decision. It's just…. You're pregnant and we have to make that work," he stated flatly.

"You mean to tell me that you're prepared to be a father?" Micah asked him. "Because there are other options," she trailed off.

"Like?"

"Adoption or abortion. Those are the decisions I'm talking about. I'm an actress. I can't just give up my career; I'm not fit to be a mother."

Yuri stood up abruptly and clutched the pregnancy test in his hand. He stared down at her. "Don't ever talk like that," he said, not with anger or hate, but with a firm tone in his voice. He knelt to her and grabbed for her hands and held them with a firm grip. "We'll figure something out, okay?" he whispered.

She sniffed. "Oh like you intend to take responsibility over me and this baby?"

"I will, Micah; I will take responsibility for you so please don't do anything that you'll regret. Let me take responsibility; let me make this work. I'll take care of you; say you'll let me do that for you," said softly back to her as he knelt towards her so that he could better see her tear stained face.

She nodded as she wiped the tears and make up away from her eyes and sniffed. "Okay."

She was quiet for a moment before she spoke again, yet another sob. "Are you mad at me?" she blubbered as she began to fall forward and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"No," Yuri said as he pulled her hair from her eyes and began to stroke her gently as she cried against his shoulder. "I'm not mad," he whispered before he hugged her tightly.


	12. Chapter 12

"What are we going to do?" Micah's question kept ringing over and over again throughout Yuri's mind. He didn't know, but in spite of that he reassured her with a solid vow that they would figure something out. It seemed to work; after some time, Micah calmed down and rested her head on his shoulder there in the quiet of the locker room. Her eyes were red and puffy from all of the crying, and her voice was raw when she spoke. "I think I should get going. Your teammates are probably wondering where you've run off to," she said as she sat up and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes with a long sniff.

Yuri leaned forward. He reached out and rubbed her back while he gave her a look of concern. "Here, give me your phone," he said quietly as he held out his hand patiently.

She complied and unlocked the screen for him, allowing for him to add in his name and cell number. He spoke while he typed. "You can text me when you need me, okay? It doesn't matter what time of night or day; I'll always reply back to you when I can. So you don't have to feel alone right now," he said. He finished typing in his contact information and handed the phone back to her with a stern look. "I'm serious. Even if it's the middle of the night and you just want to talk please just call me."

Micah looked him up and down for a moment before she grabbed for her phone and gently tucked it into her purse. She nodded quickly, darting her gaze anywhere but at Yuri for a moment before she vocalized her confirmation. "Okay. I'll keep you in the loop."

It had probably only been about 40 minutes since Micah had showed up to practice, yet it felt like it had been an eternity when Yuri at last emerged from the locker room with her in hand. She was holding onto his fingers gently as she walked behind him, her eyes turned downwards to the floor rather than looking up at where she was going.

Before they parted ways, he felt a tug on his pinky; her slender fingers were interwoven with his and were urging him to stay rather than part from her. She looked up. He didn't know what it was, how could he being such a young teenager, but in that moment he could have sworn that he had fallen in love with her.

Her red hair lay down against her face in a tangle curls and her bright eyes were still glassy from all of the crying she had done. Even still, Yuri could distinctly pick out the feeling of love as she looked at him with such a pleading gaze. "Can I give you a kiss?" she asked. Immediately she covered her mouth for a moment, obviously embarrassed at herself that she had let that slip out so suddenly.

What were they to each other? Surly she held no loyalty to him; they had only shared a bed once. Just because she was pregnant didn't automatically make her his lover. Yet there she was, asking as though she were and Yuri couldn't help but feel a pleasurable tug on his heart string.

He pulled at her hand, uncovering her mouth and leaned forward so that he could kiss her softly, his free hand slipping up to cup the round curve of her heart shaped face. He broke their kiss after a tender moment, eyes still closed, mouth still parted partially. He sighed. "I should get back to practice. Just keep in touch, okay?" Quickly he walked away from her, hoping that single kiss was able to convey the appropriate emotions he had been harboring.

When he glanced back again just before he stepped out onto the ice she was gone.

"Yurio, where have you been?"

Victor was looming on the outskirts of the rink with his hands crossed and a water bottle tucked in the crook of his arm. He glanced away from his fiance on the ice and casually looked Yuri up and down. By the look on his face it was obvious that he had noticed Micah earlier. He looked unamused and annoyed; it really wasn't a very flattering look on the older man. He had too gentle of a face to favor such sour expressions.

Yuri gulped as he stiffened; he was ill prepared as to how talk to Victor about this already. Victor was his coach and as such he was the single most important individual in Yuri's skating career. So he needed to know, but Yuri didn't know how to tell him, nor did he particularly want to go rooting up past lectures.

Begrudgingly, Yuri chewed on the inside of his cheek as he glanced away from Victor's stern expression.

"Yuri," Victor repeated this time using his appropriate name.

"I don't feel very good," Yuri commented slowly. "Can I be excused from practice for the day?"

"You may not; not until I know what's going on," Victor replied curtly as he leaned upwards and unfolded his arms. "Why was she here?"

At this point Yuuri and Beka had stopped with their practicing. It was clear that neither of them knew how to react to a potential argument between little Yuri and Victor. They should just mind their own business, but it was not in their nature, not with how close they all were. Slowly they came to a stop in a semicircle around the coach and his coachee all while Yuri clenched his fists and looked down at his skates.

"Yuri, what's wrong?" Yuuri asked quietly.

"Yuri, why was that woman here and why do you look like you've been crying?" Victor asked far more harshly than his finance.

"Yuri?"

"Yuri!"

The nagging became insistent. With that last call of his name, Yuri snapped his head upwards and stared at Victor with a look of utter shame on his young features. He gritted his teeth as he glanced to Yuuri, then to Otabek, then finally back to Victor. They would all find out eventually; may as well get it over with right? "Victor, I fucked up. I'm sorry," he said with such humiliation. In that moment he felt so small, so petty, so _childish_. He hated it.

"Please elaborate, Yuri," Victor urged with a dry tone in his voice.

Yuri's breath hitched before he spoke. He had to force the words from himself. "I-um-Micah is pregnant. She just came here to tell me."

For a moment the whole ice rink fell silent; all three men stood there with their mouths agape as they stared at Yuri. Only for a moment, though. Yuri would have liked a longer period silence. He flinched when he heard Victor kick off with his skates and glide closer to him. There was a rush of air before a sharp pain and a loud slap across his face.

With the force of the hit, Yuri's whole face turned. He didn't fight it, nor did her cover the red mark that now stained his left cheek. Instead he stood there with his head turned away from Victor and the others.

"What are you doing!?" Yuuri hissed. Yuri felt another breeze of air as his teammate came skating towards him. "You can't just hit him when he's down, Victor."

"What were you thinking?" Victor snapped, ignoring his lover's comment. There was no option for mercy in his mind. "No, don't answer that. Obviously you weren't thinking," Yuri could hear him go on. He refused to turn his face and look back at the man, so instead he stood there with his head away and his hair covering his expression from the rest of the team. "You shame me as well as yourself. How could you?"

Yuri had no intention of combating his coach, but he did speak up. "Are you going to cut me from the team?" he blurted out with a sting of hurt that cracked his voice.

"Don't be ridiculous. Not even Yakov is that vicious," Victor snorted crudely. "I won't cut you from my team, but I would highly advise that you to say out of my sight for the rest of the day. Go; you have the day off. I don't want to see your face right now," he dismissed with a wave of his hand.

"Tsk," Yuri spat; he was too angry to fully react to the high and mighty way Victor was talking. He twitched his features as he slowly rose his head to look at his coach before he swiftly turned and stormed away with Otabek skating after him.


	13. Chapter 13 Beka

_Fabulous readers,_

 _Oops I didn't mean to make everyone mad with Victor. I think Yuri did kind of deserve it. Victor is legally liable for Yuri being his coach and having him living with him. From Victor's perspective he just witness this very talented young teenager literally throw his life into a dumpster fire. I imagine Victor would be fucking pissed. Haha. I kind of dig the idea of a pissed off daddy Victor._

Nobody was expecting Micah to go into labor right as the finals for the Grand Prix began. Then again, though, pregnancy was one of those unpredictable kind of things. Couldn't be helped really. It was hard for him to go on without his team. He very much would have liked to have been with Yuri during the labor, for moral support and all. Someone had to go to the Grand Prix, though; it wasn't like the whole team could just dropped out right at the last. Would have been bad for the press.

Otabek Atlin was sitting at the reporter's board in front of a glass of water and his name tag at a white table while reporters bombarded him with questions, not about himself but about his conveniently missing teammates. He sat alone at the table with three empty chairs around him. In short he was a fine juicy steak and the reporters were hungry wolves, hungry about everything except skating that night.

He had his arms crossed as well as well as his legs as he looked out at the crowd.

"Mr. Atlin, have you heard any news on your teammate's childbirth?"

"Uh, yeah, she was born yesterday. Um," he looked at his phone for a quick moment. "144 ounces and 20 cm," he said as he read off of Victor's text. "A healthy baby girl."

"Have you heard any names for her yet?" a different woman asked from the other side of the room while a few cameras flashed.

Beka sighed. No one was interested in talking about the match that night. He reached for his phone as it rang and looked at it quickly while he made the reporters wait. He could feel himself growing a stupid smile with that picture that Yuri had sent him. Marina looked so adorable in that bunting suit he bought her. He was glad he bought it.

Quickly he set his phone down and answered the reporters. "Her name is Marina," he beamed.

It felt like an excruciatingly long haul by time Otabek dragged himself to the airport with his carryon strapped around his shoulder. He had his headphones in his ears and his phone in his hand as he texted Yuri.

You awake?

Yura: Like I've been able to sleep? You must be trying to text someone else, bud.

Beka laughed as he replied. How is she?

Yura: She's doing good; and by good I mean she knows how to cry, eat, and shit plenty fine. Thanks for asking. I saw you on TV last night. Good job.

Thanks. I'll be home soon. Mind if I swing by and come see her?

Yura: Please do. I miss you.

To that Otabek raised his eyebrow. Yuri didn't mean it like that, but for a split second he enjoyed the idea as though he did mean it like that. He plopped down into a seat near his gate and nervously held his phone in his shaking hands as he thought of a handful of things he could say. He typed several sentences and each time chickening out before he could push the send button. At last he managed a reply.

Oh?

Yura: Hang on.

Otabek leaned up with a frustrated sigh and rested his phone on his knee as he looked out the great windows in Nagoya's international airport. He bounced his leg up and down, feeling stupid now at his simple comment. Would Yuri take it the wrong way?

His phone pinged again, signalling that he had gotten a snapchat message. Otabek clicked on his phone and smiled sweetly as he pulled up Yuri's image. Sweet Yuri was sitting in a rocking chair, looking tired with Marina fussing in his arms. The caption read. "Miss you; come home safe.."

Fuck. Beka saved the picture and let his hand fall again to his knee as he rolled his head on his shoulders and looked up at the high ceiling with a defeated expression. Yuri really didn't know how much things like that messed with him sometimes, but then again Beka assumed that it was owed to him for remaining silent for so long about his feelings. Like it was some weird form of punishment.

He swallowed as he closed his eyes and thought for a moment about Yuri and Marina and how they could be his family if only he could conjure up the courage to confess his love to Yuri. Granted that fantasy would mean that Yuri would have to accept his love, and then some how magically turn gay for him which Beka highly doubted.

The plane ride was long and excruciating, but Beka, by some magical gift, managed to deal with alright. At least he had music to listen to, and pictures of Yuri and Marina saved on his phone. She was so tiny! And her big round eyes. He was immediately in love. He would swipe through the collection of photos and smile to himself during his long travel time whenever he felt a overloaded or annoyed.

He cared not to go home to his empty, lonely apartment when he landed in Heathrow; instead he was sure to book a taxi straight to Yuuri and Victor's townhouse in the suburbs. Traveling from Japan to London had him all out of whack. He was jet lagged and exhausted, but he was more than happy to collect his bags and carry them up to Yuri's home.

He knocked gently, unsure if the baby was asleep. He didn't want to wake her or something, or wake Yuri for that matter if Yuri had been able to catch a few winks of sleep. He shivered in his coat and buried his nose into his scarf as he teetered sleepily on his feet as the door slowly opened and a blonde head popped out from behind it, looking out with tired, sunken in, green eyes.

"Beka!" Yuri chimed quietly as he opened the door all of the way and allowed for the older man to come inside to the warmth of the quaint little townhome.

"Did you just land?" Yuri went on as he rocked back and forth from where he stood.

Beka turned to the other and looked him up and down. He was wearing nothing but tight leggings and a baggy sweater; his hair was haphazardly tied up and he had slung across his shoulder a pink burp up rag. Yuri was standing on the balls of his feet and was bouncing up and down while his nimble fingers held a pacifier in his daughter's mouth.

Otabek blinked a few times at the sight. He was unsure whether or not he should make an endearing sound or give Yuri an expression of sympathy.

"Oh, yeah," Yuri said as he scooted closer. "Here, here. I'll take your bag; you can put it over here for now," he said as he scooped Marina into one arm and extended his hand out to take Otabek's bag. "I just got her to settle down," he continued as he moved to Beka's side and showed him the fussy little one.

"She's so tiny," Beka whispered as his eyebrows raised and he knelt down a little more to match Yuri's very short height.

"Heh, she's a little bit of a pistol, though. She is not acclimatizing very well to the outside world," he said with a defeated sigh.

"No?"

"I can't get her to rest unless I hold her just like this with her paci in her mouth."

"Paci?" Beka repeated.

Yuri shook his head really quick and uttered a garbled sort of sound. "Ah, her pacifier. The nurses kept calling it her paci and it just stuck with me."

"Sounds rough. Did you get any sleep last night? You were up late texting me."

"No; right now Marina eats every two hours so it's hard to sleep; especially when she doesn't want to be put down… like… ever," he said as he furrowed his brow and yawned.

"Aren't Victor and Yuuri helping?"

"Yeah, but I don't like to let them stay up into the night with her. She's my responsibility. They take her in the mornings while I try and get a little bit of sleep. Fu- I mean, geeze I'm tired," Yuri continued sleepily as he showed an expression of having confused himself with how odd he had phrased the last bit of his sentence. He shook his head and thoughts out of his mind before he looked at Beka. "Do you want to hold her?"

"Oh, sure," Otabek said as he felt a twitch of nerves rush through his chest.

"Okay, okay," Yuri said. He made a shooing motion with his hand, ushering Beka to backwards into the living area from where they were standing in the entry hall. "Have you ever held a baby before?"

"Nope."

"Right, um," Yuri twisted his body around quickly as he trotted through the room and kicked a few pillows and blankets out of his way. It was obvious that the other had been nesting down there. There was a bassinet beside the couch and a few pillows thrown around near it.

"Put that pillow under your arm," Yuri ordered as he pointed to a nearby one close to Beka's leg.

When Beka complied, Yuri came sweeping down to where he was seated and gently transferred the quiet babe into his arms, resting her head in the crook of Beka's arm. He stared down in awe at her as he grabbed for the pacifier and held it in her mouth as Yuri had been doing. He didn't want her to cry and was so afraid he would disturb her from her peace if he moved too much. "Oh my God she's so tiny. She feels so light."

"Yeah, but don't let that fool you. She's actually really strong. She likes to wiggle a lot so you have to make sure she doesn't go squirming out of your hands," Yuri commented as he plopped down onto the couch beside his friend. He sighed and rested his head on Beka's shoulder while he looked down with a zoned out expression.

As hard as it was, Beka did his best to stay calm as Yuri curled up to him. He stiffened a little while the boy whom he loved snuggled ever so close. "Relax a little," he could hear Yuri say from beside him. "You're doing fine. You won't screw up, Beka; I trust you," he said as he stifled a cute yawn, his small face scrunching up as he did so.

Beka cleared his throat awkwardly as he settled back against the couch, hoping that Yuri would continue to lay there against him. "Tired?" he said to distract himself from his thoughts and emotions.

"That's an understatement," came Yuri's reply as he reached for the television remote and switched on to the sports channel if only to give some background noise to the relatively empty house.

"Where are Victor and Yuuri?"

"In bed already. They wake up early to switch me shifts. So it's just me right now," Yuri said as he yawned again.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Uh? Honestly I don't know; the days and nights are all starting to blur together. It's only been, like what, three or four days? What day is it?" he mused as he furrowed his brow and stuck out his lip.

"It's Monday the 13th I think. Honestly I don't know either. It was nighttime when I left Japan and it's still nighttime when finally landed here in London. I'm a little screwed up right now as well," he said as he laughed and rocked Marina.

Yuri mirrored his laugh with a quiet one of his own. "Why did you come here, then if you're so tired? You should go home and go to sleep."

"I dunno," Beka began, avoiding the urge to shrug his shoulders lest he disturb Yuri's comfort. "I wanted to see you and Marina," he said simply. "I wished I had been here when she was born."

"Yeah, but thank you for going without us. How was it? I mean, I saw it on TV, but how was it?"

"Christoph cried because he got too drunk at the banquet, something about a broken heart; and JJ was a douche the whole time as usual, but it was nice seeing him win second next to me."

From beside him Yuri cackled. "Oh his face was priceless. Thank you for crushing him in the dust. Is he married to that dumb bitch, yet? Or are they just going to keep flaunting their engagement but then never go through it with?"

"I dunno? I don't really follow him on social media so I have no idea what goes on his life."

"Peh," Yuri said. He turned his head to the side and rubbed his nose against Otabek's shirt, groggy and exhausted.

Quietly, Beka cleared his throat before he looked down at Marina who was nodding off as well, then to Yuri who seemed to be doing the same. "Hey, you know, you can get some sleep if you want. I'll watch her for a little while."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah; I'm glad to help."

"I'll just rest my eyes and lay right here; is that okay? You know, in case you need me?"

Beka smiled to himself. "Please do. I'll wake you up if I need anything. Marina and I can just hang out and watch some TV. Go on, it's okay."

"Thanks, Beka. It's good to have you back. I love Victor and Yuuri, don't get me wrong, but they drive me a little crazy when I have only them around."

"Glad to hear I'm needed," Beka huffed gently as Yuri's arm slid across his waist. The other curled up onto the couch and held tight onto his friend as he began to nod and mutter sleepily.

"I always need you; I don't know what I'd do without you. You've been a rock in my chaotic life. Thank you," he whispered.

"Y-yeah; you know it's because. Er, well. I'm happy to help you, Yuri. Y-you mean a lot to me," Beka said as he mulled over the words in his head. It sounded better in his mind. "More than a lot to me. I know things have been hard, but you are so loved. I don't know how you want to hear it, but I truly do care for you. Well, really it's that I l-love you. More than you could ever know," he said, squeezing his eyes shut, set on finally spitting it out.

He paused and listened to the quiet, taking note of the soft, steady sounds coming from Yuri as he slept.

"And you're asleep; of course you are," Beka said as he clucked his tongue and turned his attention elsewhere. He cleared his throat and gently settled some more, wiggling his body so that he could wrap his arms around Yuri's slim shoulders.

Well, at least he could rest there with the boy of his dreams in his arms. That could be good enough for now.


	14. Chapter 14

_Fabulous readers,_

 _Please know that I'm laughing. Your comments amuse me immensely._

The next few weeks at the Katsuki-Nikiforov house were more chaotic than enjoyable for Yuri; what with the newborn and having to deal with his grandfather, mother, and the two love birds.

Yuri was tired; no, he was beyond tired. So tired was he that it didn't make any sense. His eyes constantly felt crusty, his hair was always greasy, and he was almost always too nervous to sleep most of the time, like he was too tired to sleep. Yeah, too tired to sleep.

His grandfather and mother would be returning to Russia tomorrow. Eventually the old bag that was his mother came around and started making more of an effort in being involved, but it took her some warming up. Now she was back acting like she was running the show. THat didn't even make any sense!

He respected his mother because she paid had paid for his skating, and she gave birth to him and whatever, but he couldn't wait to get her out of his hair. Why was every woman in his life literally the shitties person ever? "Except for you, lovey," he broke his train of thought as he leaned down and kissed Marina on the nose. "No, you're not a terrible little miss like the rest of them. You just have really bad colic, yep," he said as she screamed at him. He was starting to get the hang of her triggers and her weak spots.

She didn't like to be wrapped up in a swaddle unless she was attached to someone in a wrap. She didn't like it when it was quite. She wanted to be nursed near constantly, but she never ate. Most of the time she only just wanted to sleep with the bottle in her mouth because the pacifier was rarely good enough for her on and on. But she liked to sleep on her father's chest. Or she liked to have something heavy and warm rest across her belly.

Yuri wobbled on his feet as he nearly nodded off while he stood in her nursery changing her. She wailed, offended that he had removed her diaper and socks and kicked with all of her tiny strength as he tried to wrestle her back into her clothes. Putting on a fresh pair of white socks was the hardest. She didn't like to be pinned down in any way unless she did and it was hard to tell. "You need socks, baby. It's cold outside and you're going to hate it even more if you go out there underdressed," he said as he forced her cute little foot into a lacy white sock.

"Besides. This is a special day; so special socks….. Obviously." Was he really talking like this? He furrowed his brow. Nothing made sense. He was talking to a baby about special socks.

"I just don't understand why we need to be baptized if this is her ceremony," came a voice from outside of the nursery.

Yuri swiveled his head around as he pushed Marina's dressy bottom on. "It's because you're spiritually responsible for her. So if you're going to be spiritually responsible then you should at least be baptized," he explained flatly as he unfolded Marina's white dressing gown and bonnet just as Yuuri entered the room..

"I thought we were just going to be legally responsible for her?" Yuuri said as walked inside further, dressed in his suite and ready to go.

Victor followed in tow and leaned against the doorframe as he crossed his arms. He shrugged in reply to Yuuri's comment. "I don't know any more than you do."

"Why not? This isn't some Russian thing?"

Victor waved his hand to gesture no as he spoke. "I'm just a regular old Christian, but I haven't been to church in, gosh, years," he said as he bowed his head in embarrassment. The two of them had opted to keep religion out of their wedding so religion was often not discussed. Especially not with Yuuri who never could seem to wrap his head around it.

"Baptisms are more of a Catholic thing," Yuri said once he had finished dressing Marina. "It's not a big deal; just," he shrugged his shoulders, "that's how I was raised. I'm not even that good at practicing religion myself, but just because I'm awful at it doesn't meant she shouldn't have all the same things I got to have as an infant and a child."

"Yurio, you sound so grown up!"

"Would you have had a Catholic wedding if you could?" Yuuri asked as he adjusted his glasses on his nose.

Yuri froze a little before he yanked at Marina's carseat and hoisted it up onto the changing table so he could put her in it. "I would have liked to," he muttered. "This bonnet, actually, would have been her mother's handkerchief at the wedding; you know if we got that far," he said as he sniffed obnoxiously to mask his brief emotional display of regret.

"Sorry; I'm sure Yuuri didn't mean to go prying," Victor excused as he pinched his husband's arm.

"I'm just trying to understand," Yuuri interjected, not sounding apologetic; just genuinely curious. He waved Victor away from him and rubbed his arm in reaction.

"It's okay," Yuri said as he lifted Marina down. "So you two have to get baptized first; then after you're spiritually awakened or whatever, then we can proceed with Marina's ceremony."

"Then it's back here for her party! It's like a birthday party!" Victor chimed with a sing song voice. "Everything is all ready downstairs."

To that Yuri smiled genuinely. "Thanks guys."

It was just a small cathedral; nothing showy or fancy. Yuri had to go seeking a priest that would be open to baptizing a gay couple. IT took some time and effort, and a lot of having to talk to a bunch of old, stuffy men. His mother tried to take charge of the matter, but failed to understand the importance in allowing his friends to be the godparents of Marina. Yuri and his mother did not see eye to eye on the matter. Which was why she was presently standing as far away from Victor and Yuri as possible with her arms crossed and her eyes looking anywhere but at one of the crucial parts of the ceremony.

Had she had her way, she would have insisted upon standing beside Yuri for the baptism of his baby, a place that would usually be reserved for the mother of the infant. The argument concerning that was not pretty and seemed to rattle the whole household at the time. She cried for hours after that and kept insisting that it wasn't fair.

No, carrying his daughter up to the pedestal, leaning her over the edge and holding her so gingerly, that was his right now that he was without Micah. He moved slowly with her for she was quiet and dozing in his arms. Not for long he was sure.

He looked attentively at the priest as he spoke his holy words and held onto Marina.

"And now I ask thee, Marina Anna Plisetski. Dost thou desire to obtain eternal life in the church of god through faith in Jesus Christ?"

"She does," Yuri said softly with a nod.

Gently the man dressed in flourishing white robs leaned forth and breathed upon Marina saying, "May the powers of darkness, which the divine Redeemer hath vanquished by his cross, retire before thee, that thou mayest see to what hope, and to what an exceeding glorious inheritance among the saints, thou art called Mary.

Let us Pray."

At that, Yuri could hear a thump and a soft " _ouch"_ come from Yuuri from down the steps where he and his husband were standing. Victor must have elbowed him to give him the signal to bow his head for the prayer while Yuri had already bowed his head with his eyes closed and began to speak along with the priest.

"Almighty, everlasting God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, look graciously down upon this child, whom thou hast called to the grace of regeneration by the Holy Ghost; banish all darkness from her heart, and vouchsafe unto her the holy Spirit of thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with the and the same Holy Spirit evermore.

Amen," he said as the priest's old hands touched upon Marina's forehead and breast in the sign of a cross.

On he went, first with salt in her mouth, waking her and giving her reason to start complaining, yet Yuri held her still. Then more touches upon her ears and face before he sprinkled water thrice upon her forehead. At that point the babe was awake and complaining boldly to having been disturbed.

It was a surreal moment for Yuri. He was thankful that he managed to find a church that was willing to do an unorthodox baptism. This would never be so in Russia and because of that he was grateful that he no longer lived there.

He turned and smiled at his friends after the final Amen as they all began to clap in appreciation of a successful and beautiful ceremony. It was now time for celebrations and food which everyone was surely grateful for. It was time for brunch and no one had yet eaten due to the preparations.

He stepped forward down, holding onto his fussing baby as Otabek stepped out from his spot next to Yuri's mother and reached for his hand to help him down the stairs safely. Yuri smiled at him. He was in too good of a mood to put up the facade of being a cool punk so instead he thanked his friend genuinely. It was a rare moment for everyone: Yuri was in a good mood, Victor and Yuuri were able to behold a Catholic ritual; his mother was quiet for once and did not make it about himself. What a successful morning.

"You've got some tears," Otabek said as he brushed Yuri's cheeks with the blunt of his thumb just as his company turned and began to walk down the aisle.

"Heh, thanks," Yuri said; he hadn't even realized he had shed a few tears. Really, he wasn't very religious at all, but he felt at least a baptism was important for Marina. He was happy as well to have been able to share such a meaningful moment with his friends and family.

Victor had insisted that he send out official invitations to friends both near and far, even as far as Thailand and South Korea. "It's only proper to invite them even if they can't make it," Victor would say as he fussed over envelopes and cards over the last week.

Victor's inviting "friends", though, meant inviting people that Yuri did not like because Victor simply had no understanding in what it meant to take in someone else's perspective. Or at least he conveniently forgot that crucial human skill whenever the situation suited him.

The party was still small, but what had Yuri pissed off was the presence of JJ and whatever-what's-her-face, his fiance. He would have rathered Phichit. Or Guang Hong was pretty chill too, but JJ? Why?

He narrowed his eyes, cup in his hands as he slouched on the couch. Apparently JJ was excited to visit. "We've been looking for the opportunity to come and tour around London so we just decided to go for it since there is now a good cause for us to visit. Plus I just had to see Otabek. Man, how have you been?" JJ was saying loudly in the dining room as he clapped his hand onto Otabek's back. "Enjoying the switch of teams?"

"Uh, yeah. It's been pretty nice. It's good to work in smaller teams."

"More intimate, right?" Christophe said as he raised his cup in the air; they were only drinking punch, but he still kept on insisting that he give toasts here and there for meaningful moments.

Yuri rolled his eyes.

JJ's fiancee was sitting next to him, holding Maraina and rocking her back and forth in her arms as she sang little lullaby to her while MIla hovered over. They had been fussing and sharing the baby all afternoon.

"Oh she's so sweet," she cooed. "I want to be a mommy some day," she said quietly as he played with Marina's strawberry blond locks. "Do you think her hair will stay this color?"

"Uh, I don't know," Yuri said as he sat up from his skulking spot and looked at Marina. "The doctors say that her eyes will change color, but I don't know about her hair."

"I kind of hope it doesn't change color. It's so pretty. Red hair is a dying genetic trait, you know, so it's good that she was able to pick up that gene," Mila said with pride as she brushed her fingers through her own red hair.

"Yeah, I guess I'd like for her hair to stay that color too," Yuri mused as he pinched at Marina's toe and wiggled it playfully. She wasn't capable of laughing yet, but he still liked to play with her nonetheless.

"I had my doubts that you were going to be a good dad, but I can tell that you're really happy about all of this."

At that Yuri furrowed his brow. "Thanks?"

"Playing nice over here?" JJ said from over the sofa. He patted Yuri on the back and congratulated him. "Pretty good looking, little baby," he said impartially. It became apparent to Yuri who it was that actually wanted to come to the party. "We, um, got you a little gift, right babe?"

"Right. You should go get it from the car," his Isabella was saying with a smile and a goo-goo eyed expression.

Yuri looked at him with a dumb face, and unfortunately his dumb faces always seemed to make it seem like he was extremely angry. He wasn't, he just didn't know what to say. Eventually he blurted out another phrase of gratitude before he stood and excused himself from the living area, giving the two stupid love birds time to play with the baby. He could trust JJ's fiancee and mila alone with Marina. He just couldn't handle being around JJ. He didn't like how he always acted with his soon-to-be-wife, always acting so lovey dovey and shit.

Quite simply put, it was hurtful for Yuri to see other's romantic happiness outside of Victor and Yuuri. "Bah," he seethed as he refilled his cup and skulked past Christophe, ignoring him entirely as he pushed out through the kitchen and out the back door.

He slammed his head against the brick wall of the building and looked up at the dying light. Daylight did not last very long in December in London. It only had to be about 1600 or so and yet it seemed as though it were already night.

He heard the backdoor open and close from beside him and glanced over at Otabek. He flashed a disgruntled look before he spoke. "What? Did they send you out here after me because you're the only one that can ever deal with my 'moodiness'." He made a quotation mark motion with his free hand as he said the last word in his sentence.

"No, just thought I'd come out and see how you were. It's not hard to tell when you're upset about something. I didn't need to be told to come out here and check on you. I did so because I wanted to. What's up?" Otabek said slowly as he turned and leaned against the wall beside Yuri.

"I hate JJ," he said simply.

"That's not really what's bothering you."

"Feh, I just don't like him. I never have. He's always condescending, even when he's trying to be nice."

"Did he say something to you?"

Yuri furrowed his brow. "Not really."

"So what's wrong?"

"I don't know. I just get frustrated when I'm around couples right now. Isabella-that's her name I think-was holding Marina and JJ was standing behind her. I could see their engagement rings and-" He broke himself off short. That was a really petting thing to be upset about, even for him.

"You're upset because they're happy together." Beka stated, not to confirm, but because he had already had a suspicion that that was the underlying issue.

Yuri could feel the heavy weight of Beka's arm fall across his shoulders. The older man pulled on him harshly and tucked him in close. "It's kind of cold out here don't you think?"

"Yeah. It's snowing a bit too," Yuri said as he held out his hand and caught a few snowflakes, thankful for the change of subject.

"You can cry if you want. I'll hold you," he could hear Otabek say slowly.

"Do I really cry a lot or something?"

"Only because you usually have a good reason to," Beka said with a small smile. "I seem to recall a few times where I cried with you. It's frustrating; this whole last last year has been kind of shitty."

"Yeah," Yuri said quietly as he turned his body to face Otabek, he scooted closer to him and wrapped his arms around his waist. "But at least you're really good at being there for me," he said as he hugged him and remained in that position.

From above him Beka chuckled a little as he held Yuri tighter. "I try," he replied with a shrug.

Where Yuri stood, he truly did believe that he and Otabek had such a solid bond. It was usually around the older skater that he felt like he wasn't utterly alone. Victor and Yuuri were worlds apart from him a lot of the time; and for the last run of his relationship with Micah it seemed that she was just as far, but Otabek was always something corporal, someone who he could hug and cling to when he needed.

Otabek didn't make things complicated. He said what he meant and he was straightforward. There were emotions between them, but they weren't confusing like they had been with Micah. Yuri held onto Otabek a little tighter as he stomach rolled over in his belly. He twisted his nose into Beka's shirt and sniffed.

"I'm not crying," he muttered pathetically. "I just hate seeing other people be happy."

"It's okay, you can hate them all you want. I think you're entitled to be a little bitter."

"I don't hate you, though," Yuri said softly.

"That's good, 'cuse I was gonna say that I could go if you wanted me to."

"Please don't," Yuri protested feebly.

"Hey, Yuri?"

"Yeah?"

"When we hug each other like this. What does it mean to you?"

Yuri turned his face away from Beka's chest and looked out towards small yard around the side of the house. "I dunno," he said stupidly.

"No?"

"Why do you ask?" Yuri questioned with hesitation.

Beka shrugged. "It's just intimate for me when you do stuff like this. "

"Ha-ha, what? Really?" Yuri couldn't help, though, but feel his heart sink a little. Was that really what he was putting across to the other? Shit.

"I was just wondering, you know. If you needed a rebound or something. Like an emotional one. I could stay here for a little while and help you out at night so you don't feel so lonely."

"Don't be ridiculous; why would you want to waste good sleep just to ensure that I don't feel lonely?" Yuri half laughed with a weird look on his face.

"Because I care about you; I dunno. It just seems like you need an emotional backbone. You don't have to do this alone, bear the burden and responsibility of having made a mistake, you know?"

"Feh," he snorted. But he paused and glanced back quickly. "I won't mind if you won't mind," he said before he promptly shut his mouth again and remained silent there with Otabek for a few minutes more, the both of them watching the snow and holding onto one another.


	15. Chapter 15

_Fabulous readers,_

 _Some of you were commenting on how Yuri took the news exceptionally well, right?_

Yuri was hardly gentle as he kicked the door open to Victor's apartment. He slammed it behind him and threw his keys off into the far distance, caring not where they landed as he trudged into the home with heavy footsteps. His hand came up to his cheek once again for the millionth time during his trip, touching the gentle sting where Victor has struck him.

"That fucker," he said out loud as though there were someone there to validate his anger. "I'm not just some fucking-" he stopped himself short, realizing the pointlessness of talking to himself.

"Jesus Christ," he wailed as he scrambled his fingers through his blonde hair. "Fuck!"

In that moment, every single emotion a human being could possibly experience was now erupting within Yuri's heart. Mostly he was ruminating on the emotions of fear, anger, frustration with a mild underlaying of sorrow, regret, and melancholy. This-between him and Micah-was every teenager's cliche nightmare and now it was his reality.

He stormed down the hallway of the small apartment and busted through his room, grabbing random things and mulling over a mental list in his mind. Phone charger: check. Boxers: check. Sleepwear, shirts, jeans... He was muttering to himself as he threw all of his shit into a backpack and forcefully zippered it closed.

He had his duffle with his skates and workout clothes, and now a backpack with some overnight clothes. Oh right, toothbrush. He shoved his way out of his room after flicking off the light and trudged into the bathroom for other necessities.

Yuri's phone was ringing again in his pocket. He emitted a low "ugh" as he quickly unsheathed it from its tight resting place in his jeans and looked at the screen.

It was a text message from Beka. and sadly, not even he could help him though he had been trying to get ahold of him for the last half hour. He knew that the other meant well, but he did not care to be in contact with anyone from his team. Not Yuuri, not Victor, and not Otabek.

So where was he going ? He barely even felt calm enough to go out into public. It was a wonder how he even made it home, what with having to stand close to people in the tubes with that red blotch on his cheek. A lot of people were staring at him, presuming that he was just some runaway kid that was beat up by his old man. Or even some punk that got into yet another fistfight.

Nevermind that he was a well-to-do figure skater, a natural born talent. And it was all wasted. Right? It had to be. Wasn't this the end game? Would he make enough money to support a child? Was he going ot have to worry about child support? Or was he going to have to settle down with Micah? Get a job? Get a career? What about the last of his schooling?

In the living area of the apartment, Yuri dropped to his knees, unable to carry himself out for his legs seemed as though there were no longer strong enough. He wasn't trying to act like some pussy, but he just physically did not have the energy to stand.

A rumble stirred low in his chest that erupted into a wailing moan as he brought his hands up to his eyes to cover his pathetic expression before he burst at the top of his lungs.

"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God!" he moaned loudly over and over again, caring not that his neighbors would hear.

"What am I going to do?" he said as he felt himself begin to hyperventilate. He tore his hands away from his eyes and tried to will his mind to corporate. He didn't know! He just didn't know!

How much in earnings did he make a year? Like how much money did he make even now? He didn't manage his own finances; he didn't even know how! Would it be enough to support a family?

There came the blip of a text message on his phone, the screen illuminating and Beka's text bubble popping up:

Beka: Yura, let me help you figure this out. I'm worried; just call me, okay?

Yuri gave a long and disgusting sniff as he brought his phone up to his face. The artificial light and company of his phone seemed eerily calming. He tapped the screen twice to reply and was about type when his phone blipped again and a new text bubble popped up.

Hey, I'm just replying to this phone number to make sure it's right. Is this Yuri's phone?

Yuri sniffed as he tapped on the new message box and moved instead to reply to that instead of Beka.

Yah. It's me, Micah.

Micah: Oh good.

Yuri chewed on his tongue for a moment before he replied: So my coach is pissed and I sort of live with him. I was wondering…

Micah: If you could stay the night at my place?

...Yeah. Please?

Micah: I mean, it's probably the least I could do at this point, right? Still remember where I live, or were you a 'lil too tipsy?

I do remember, actually...

Yuri thought long and hard if he wanted to elaborate why he was now familiar with her area, but thought better of it. He had apologized for his outburst so that was now in the past. He didn't need her sorries in return for his.

With a sigh, Yuri pocketed his phone once more though he remained sitting on the ground with his hands limp in his lap. He stared down at them, tears still oozing from his eyes and dribbling down his sharp cheeks.

He took a moment to listen to his heartbeat, concentrating on his breath. Going to Hasetsu was at least a valuable lesson for him. There he learned to meditate which sometimes he used in moments of was so scared out of his wits, though, that he was near afraid to close his eyes for every time he closed them all he could see was a terrible future.

With a scowl and a long groan he eventually climbed to his feet and made his way out of the apartment after finding his knees underneath the lamp table.

It was weird, right, to come back to Micah's apartment after such a long absence?

Yuri stood on the outside of the building with his thumbs tucked up under the thick straps of his backpack. He had his hood up and his sunglasses on, though it was hardly the day for it. It wasn't sunny, nor was it particularly bright, he just wanted to hide his red puffy eyes and blotchy red cheek. Surly the mark had faded by now? Victor had hit him pretty fucking hard.

Again, Yuri reached up to touch the mark while he waited for Micah to open up the door. Did he looked moderately composed? He didn't want to coming showing up to her house like some street urchin in need of a home. He rocked on the balls of his feet after ringing the buzzer and nearly screeched when his phone began to ring again in his tight pocket.

"Fuck off," he muttered to himself as he angrily declined a call from Victor and promptly silenced his phone.

The door opened slowly at first, just a crack so that Micah could look out before she opened it all of the way. Yuri probably looked stupid standing there with his hood up and sunglasses on inside of the building. He removed them and tucked his glasses up into his shirt as he looked at her with a very raw expression on his face.

He could see something in her melt, like she had gone weak in the knees. She stuttered before she stepped out of the way. "Uh, come in, please."

It was so fucking awkward. Yuri felt like he was imposing and that he had no right to. It was a half concocted plan. He unloaded himself of his two bags and set them down close to the door for quick and easy escape if need be.

"You look like you've been crying," she said as she crossed her arms and scuttled backwards away from him.

"Yeah. I guess it all just hit me at once."

"Was your fight with your coach that bad?" she said with a genuine look of concern.

"N-not really. He just slapped me and sent me away like I was some child." She looked like she wanted to say that he was technically a child, but she chose not to and for that Yuri silently thanked her.

He looked around awkwardly as he puffed out his cheeks before he pushed the air out through his compressed lips. "Is it really okay that I stay here for the night? I know it was kind of sudden of me to ask."

Micah giggled. "You look like you intend to stay more than just a night," she said as she pointed behind him at the two bags on the floor.

He twisted his torso and looked to where she was pointing. "Oh, no, the duffle bag is just my skating stuff. I only just packed my backpack full of a few things."

"Ah. Well, if you need to stay a few nights that's okay too. Perhaps it would be, I dunno, good for us to spend some time together?" she said as she half shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." He was starting to set his things down and discard his jacket and shoes, feeling less flighty after Miach's kind offer. Of course she would need emotional support and shit like that, right? It made sense why she would invite him to stay.

"Do you want some tea? Or do you like coffee more? I think I might have some."

"Just whatever is fine. Even if it's just water. You don't have to make me anything special."

She laughed and looked at him as though he were joking. "I'll make us both some tea; it's a tea kind of afternoon. And some biscuits."

"Wow, real royal British snack time and everything," Yuri snorted as he curled himself up onto Micah's couch while she disappeared behind her kitchen wall. He could hear her laughing as she began to fill the kettle with water. "We're pretty stereotypical sometimes, but I'll bet you're pretty stereotypical of Russia sometimes."

"You mean besides me terrible stereotypical Russian accent? I can't hold my alcohol worth shit, so that's one notch off the possibilities."

"I rather like your accent," she called to him. "I like how deep your voice his and how harsh the accent sounds in addition to the sharp way you have of talking."

He cocked his head to the side. Was she…. Flirting with him? He scratched at his tear duct as he tried to think of something to say in return. Was he supposed flirt back? Maybe she was just being nice? "I don't like my accent. Actually, I don't really like speaking English. My mouth sometimes doesn't want to form the words right."

"You seem to speak it fine to me."

"That's because English is the common language that I share with Yuuri. He's really good with languages so he helped me a little to clarify some things."

"Yuuri is that Japanese man right?" Micah asked as she walked out from behind the one wall in her apartment and leaned on the wall with her arms crossed. "It's pretty amazing how good his English is."

"Yeah! He spent so long in America. I think he got his degree in a university there too. I've only ever just stayed in Russia up until I switched teams," he paused for a moment. "I don't really want to talk much about me though."

"That's fine. Okay, what do we talk about, then?"

Eventually the two compromised on chatting casually for a bit then settled for Netflix in the later evening. It was weird how quick Micah was to warming up to him. Yuri could tell that she was hesitant at first, but she kept scooting closer and closer to him as the afternoon bled into the evening. At last she was curled against his arm while they relaxed.

"I'm going to take the next few days off if you want to do the same and stay here. I think we owe it to each other to get to know one another. If you want to keep the baby, that is."

"Why did you even offer an alternative to that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I panicked. I've never wanted to become a mother. So I was at a loss of things to do. I don't want to be a mother if it means I have to be alone to do it. But obviously you reacted differently so now I don't have to worry about being alone."

He nodded; he supposed he could understand her point of view. As a teenage male, he once was uninterested in starting a family, getting married, all of that bullshit, but he always figured that someday he would fall in love and have a family; it just wasn't his priority. Now it was.

"I'm sorry if I offended you."

"You didn't. I just think, you know, if you make a mistake then you should own it and improve."

"That's actually really wise of you to say," she said with raised eyebrows.

"Eh; it's just some lessons that have been drilled into my head in years of dance and figure skating coaching."

"Guess I'm lucky. Of all of the teenagers I could have accidentally screwed my life up with I ended up with a relatively smart and noble one."

"Ah-ha. I'm anything but noble. I'm just a stubborn asshole."

"That's cute," she said as she pinched his cheek. "I'm going to take a shower and probably go to bed. I didn't do anything today but I'm so tired," she complained.

Yuri laughed. "Well you are pregnant so you should probably get used to it. I imagine it's probably going to be pretty draining."

"I suppose so."

While she was away, Yuri managed to fix himself up a nice little nest on the couch. He had some pillows fluffed and had changed into his sleepwear and was curling up for the night with his phone in his hand. Maybe he would skip the next few days of practice as Micah had suggested. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea until Victor cooled off, or until he was able to compose himself some more.

He was laying down and pursuing through his missed messages when Micah knocked on the wall from across the room and looked at him. "What are you doing?"

Yuri wasn't sure how he was supposed to answer that. He looked to his phone then back to her. What did it look like he was doing? He frowned with a stupid expression on his face. "Getting ready for bed?" he resorted to saying dumbly.

"You don't have to sleep on the couch. You can sleep with me if it would be more comfortable."

"Uh….I don't think that's such a good idea," Yuri said as he let his phone rest on his chest.

At that she pressed her lips together and scrubbed the ball of her foot into the ground awkwardly, a motion that reminded Yuri of an shy little girl. He blushed.

"It's not like we're not familiar with each other. I don't think there's really anything between us that should make anything awkward. I just," she paused, "don't want to sleep alone. I don't want to feel like I'm alone."

"Okay," Yuri said quietly as he climbed to his feet and followed her to her bed. He supposed he could understand what she meant. He didn't want to feel alone either. He had promised earlier that he would take care of her.

He curled underneath the sheets as she followed behind and snuggled closed. She kissed him on the cheek and rest her head against his shoulder with her arms and legs wrapped around him ever so intimately.

Yuri couldn't deny that he liked it. He felt needed he supposed; like if he just kept his chin up things would work out. Slowly, he glanced down at her damp red hair and pushed his nose and lips to it for a gentle goodnight kiss.

 _Okay; so I've reached the point where I'm going to ask for criticism. So by all means open up the floodgates and give me your thoughts and opinions on where you think I can improve. My specific area I think I need to improve are transitions. So let me know what you think of my transitions in general. And if I need to improve; do ya'll have any good books for me to read that would be a good place to observe better writing? Thanks! 3_


	16. Chapter 16

_Fabulous readers,_

 _You know I said to myself this morning, "how can I make Yuri as much of a fuck boi as possible today?" I think I have done a mighty fine job if I do say so myself._

"Yeah."

Yuri was standing by the couch in Micah's flat with his phone held up to his ear. He had his arms crossed and was busy drawing imaginary lines into Micah's Yoga mat that she had lent to him for early morning stretches. He scoffed. "I said I get it, Yuuri."

"I'm just saying. He didn't mean it like you think he did."

At that Yuri rolled his eyes. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He turned his face away from the kitchen where Micah was presently working around fixing up something to eat. She insisted despite Yuri being as far from hungry as possible. She was being so nice. He didn't want her to have to hear any of the fuss in his life over this.

"Settle your tone. I'm not calling you just so we can yell at each. I think it would be easier if you just let me talk to you face to face. Are you going to come to practice?"

"Nope. I'll practice on my own today," he stated stubbornly.

"Oh my… give me strength. And you're just going to go to open skate somewhere else?"

"Or maybe I'll just work on my step sequences and do weight training today. Don't try and tell me what to do."

"Yuri stop it," the other commanded clearly. His voice was so stern that the teen promptly pushed his lips together and obeyed almost immediately. "Take the day to get your affairs in order; of even just take the day off if you need it. I don't care. Just make sure you give us a chance too to explain ourselves. Whether you like it or not Victor is legally responsible for you. You can't just go running away from home and expect us not to care."

"Just legally responsible, huh?" Yuri repeated those words with his head turned downward so he could stare at the ground, feeling suddenly like he might start to tremble with anger.

"You're not stupid so don't act like it. You know I mean more than that. We, Victor and I, care very deeply for you. So I think you can afford to give me the time of day to talk about this. I won't be bringing Victor. He's just as upset about this as you are and I don't need you going at each other's throats."

"...Okay," Yuri said reluctantly.

"Do you need me to come pick you up?"

"No; I'll just meet you somewhere. Let's just meet at Starbucks near the rink after your practice."

"My treat," Yuuri confirmed with a lighter, softer tone. One that almost made Yuri feel… at ease?

"Geeze; I guess I finally know the answer to the elusive question as to which one of you is the man in the relationship." Of course Yuri couldn't let a productive step forward go without at least a little sarcasm.

"Don't go seeking answers you know you don't want to find out."

"Ah, gross, so I'm right. Who would have thought, Porky. You seem like such a pushover."

"You're joking, right?"

To that he really didn't have a good answer. Yuuri was anything but a pushover. He was complacent, but even Yuri understood that those terms were entirely different from each other. Underestimating him never ended well for the younger. "I'll see you after practice," he said as he hung up on the other and tossed his phone onto the couch.

He grumbled with diffused anger as he went into a forward fold onto the mat and wrapped his arms around his calves, easily folding himself in half. He entertained the idea of taking the day off, but he would have so much pent up emotion that he would hardly know what to do with himself. No, better keep at it.

"Oh wow, you're really bendy," Micah said from behind. She set two bowls of oatmeal onto the table before she receded back into her bedroom area and grabbed for another mat from underneath her bed, talking as she went. "I've always wanted to learn how to be more bendy. Can you teach me?"

Before he could reply, she jumped over beside to him with a skip and a hop. He looked her up and down and raised an eyebrow from where he was standing, still bent over with his arms crossed at his ankles. "What, you don't know any yoga? Why do you have mats then?"

"I mean; I know some yoga. It's more like a fashion statement, innit?"

"Ah-ha. I mean I guess if you're one of those yoga pant wearing, Starbucks drinking, poodle caring bimbos that you see on Instagram all the time," he paused after the realization came to him that he had just described Victor near perfectly.

"You don't need to be mean," she said while she rolled out her mat and sat on it. Clearly he had struck a sensitive spot with the woman.

"No; I wasn't talking about you," he said quickly as walked his hands forward into downward facing dog. "I'm not some guru at yoga," he continued softly. "It's just a good way to stretch in the morning even if you don't have a rigorous exercise program ahead of you. It's good to do it. Maybe even more so for you in the upcoming months. That's a thing right? Pregnancy yoga?" he said as he screwed up his expression whilst he tried to answer his own question. It had to be a thing. "Well, come on, then. Step into warrior two," he said without giving her a chance to reply as he did so himself.

After a brief moment allotted for movement, he looked at her. "No, no, other way. Watch me."

Yuri would be blatantly lying if he tried to pretend that he didn't like how he had spent his early morning. Doing warm up yoga with Micah was nice. He still had half of the morning after that to spend at the gym for cardio and weight training. He was perhaps a little too unforgiving towards himself than he needed to be. For some reason he was sure to work as hard as he could until his muscles complained with a burning sensation of pain and until it felt as though his lungs would give out.

He was exhausted by the time he arrived to Shitty-bucks. Even he was thankful for it even if he did love to hate on the place; he didn't care that it was burnt coffee. Coffee was coffee at that point. He smirked upon seeing Yuuri. It looked as though the other had no easier of a practice that morning either.

"Had a good morning?" he snickered as the two walked to stand in line together.

"Not really. Everyone is tired today. None of us slept well last night," Yuuri said as he pushed his glasses out of the way so he could rub his eye and yawn.

"Don't tell me it's because you were worried sick about me or whatever," the smaller replied while he stuck out his tongue and made a disgusted face.

"It's because we were worried sick about you. Get over it," Yuuri replied as he pushed on him so that he could march a little ways up to the counter. "Just order what you want and quit acting like a punk for half of a second please."

Yuri puffed out his cheeks as he looked at the barista then at the black menu behind her. He supposed he could afford something sweet. "An iced grande caramel macchiato. Extra caramel." He looked back at Yuuri then looked back to the barista. "Please," he added quickly before he side stepped out of the way for Yuuri, avoiding any and all eye contact with the other out of embarrassment for having ordered such a pussy drink.

"Must be nice to drink whatever you want and not have to worry," Yuuri commented as he set their cups down at a table nearest to the back of the cafe. He sipped very loudly at his iced tea, grimacing at the taste before he pulled the straw out of his mouth and looked at it. "Why does it have to be minty? Can't it just be regular green tea?" he said before he shook his head and put the plastic cup down again. He adjusted his glasses on his nose while Yuri chewed on his straw and slouched in his chair.

"Well go on; I'm waiting for my lecture," Yuri said as he began to wiggle his leg back and forth with nervous tension.

"I'm not going to lecture you. You made a decision and now you have to pay for your actions. So what are you going to do?"

"I'm already tired of that question and no one has hardly asked it of me yet. I don't know, Yuuri. I'm going to take responsibility, like you said, right? Pay for my actions?"

"Okay so you're going to take shared custody of the baby?"

"Yes."

It was painfully obvious that Yuuri hadn't been expecting that answer. Or maybe he was proud of Yuri for that answer? He couldn't know for sure.

Yuri waved off whatever it was that the other could say next and sat up so he could lean his forearms onto the table. "Look, that doesn't matter right this very second. What matters is that I make sure that I still have a career and a source of income at this point… right?"

"That's a good start."

"And I don't know why Victor had to go and get so pissed off for. Especially if he isn't going to cut me from the team."

"I think cutting you from the team would have been the easier thing to do. I know this is hard for you, but look at it from his perspective. He's just as afraid as you are. He's your coach and now he has to watch you struggle when this all comes to pass. He's afraid you've thrown your talent and life away all because of a mistake he feels he's partially responsible for."

Yuri rolled his eyes, though his facial features were no longer a display of hot teenage anger. "It's not always about him. It's not his fault. I recognize that I'm fucking stupid and that I messed up big time. Slapping me in the face was more like rubbing salt in the wound."

"He was afraid that this was going to happen. I can't excuse his reaction, but-"

"But it was more like how a father might react to a foolish son who could have potentially ruin his very promising future. What father wouldn't at first be outraged?"

The two at the table looked up at Victor who was looming over them while he removed his sunglasses. He stared at Yuri with such an intense gaze, his blue eyes like icy fire. The teen looked away as he began to bounce his legs up and down, more nervous than he had been before. "I'm sorry, Victor," he said quietly.

"Little one, I have oh so been tired of your attitude. I'm sorry that this is what it ended up coming to in order for you to get a reality check." Quickly Victor grabbed for a nearby chair and sat down between them. "I spent a lot of time more or less thinking about myself until the two of you came into my life in the weirdest of ways. Now I'm more than thankful to have you.

I see a lot of potential in you, Yuri. You went from being someone that was just on the same team as me to someone who I love a great deal. I'm angry about this, at you, and at myself."

It took a great deal of pride for a man to admit that. Yuri could respect that.. Slowly he raised his eyes from the table and looked at Victor. "I'm not going to throw my life away," he vowed with stubborn vigor.

"You damn right you're not," Victor said stiffly as he crossed both his legs and his arms. "Yuuri and I are prepared to help you in every way possible, but I ask that you do one thing for me in return."

"What?"

"I demand a paternity test. I want to make sure that this, in fact, is your child that you're going to make sacrifices for."


	17. Chapter 17

_Fabulous readers,_

 _Sorry; I took a momentary break to write a different story that I needed to get out of my system while I compiled my notes for what I wanted to do with this one._

"This is insulting; and what's more is that you're just rubbing the salt in the wound by sitting here," Micah seethed as she sat in the OBGYN's waiting room with Yuri and Victor.

Victor had his legs crossed as well as his arms with a stuffy look on his face, like he was being forced to breath air that was below his high standard or something. Yuri, having already tested Victor's wrath enough, remained quiet and slouched in his seat between Micah and his coach. He wished he didn't have to be alive in that awkward moment. He was more than happy to attend the visits with Micah, but with Victor there it just seemed really weird.

"What do you take me for?" Micah continued as she patted her chest. "Do you think I'd do this willingly to myself, wind up knocked up with this bloke? It's kind of a scandal for me too, you know," she said with a low hiss. She had not been happy at all since the paternity test had been requested of her for her first official visit to the doctor.

"Just a precaution, sweet," he said with faked kindness. "It's in Yuri's best interest as well as yours. I really am sorry if you take my actions offensively. Sorry you feel that way, that is. But I think it's only right, just to be on the safe side. You did have a one night stand with him, did you not? Who's to say you haven't had a few of those somewhere along the way this last month?"

"I didn't," she puffed as she shot a look to Yuri like she was expecting him to speak up on her behalf. He winced. When did the last few weeks become an issue where everyone decided to get mad at him? He shrugged in reply as he tried to do anything but look her in the eye. She was really scary when she was mad.

Reluctantly he spoke. "I would like to know too," he admitted quietly. "Besides it's important just to be on the safe side. I have a family history of illness and shit like that. They're going to test you for different things whether you like it or not, this will probably be one of them once the look at me," he continued. Believe it that he did his research on it before he went walking into that doctor's office.

"Illnesses?"

"Yeah; like rheumatoid arthritis, which is genetically passed down and can pop up at any age in a person; I could very well get it myself. I had an aunt die of ovarian cancer as well," he cut himself off, knowing that she was sure to get the picture. "And that's just on my mother's side; I have no idea what comes along with me from my father's side. So it's good just to have background knowledge."

"Right; and anything else to protect your perfect little career," she snapped back with a roll of her eyes. "Don't forget that part." She shook her magazine that she had been pretending to read for the past 15 minutes and fumbled through the pages.

At that point Victor decided to butt in again. "Look, hate me all you want, Micah, but this is best for everyone. What if you decide that it's not going to work out between the two of you and you want to live separate lives? Yuri, being a minor at conception will require proof that his the biological father if you're going to want to seek child support. Among other things; he's also a different nationality than you. The baby has a right to claim Russian nationality if he wants and he'll need genetic testing for that." He leaned forward and balanced his elbows on his knees. "You're just covering your bases or so the American's would say.

It's unbecoming to put up such an argument. You made this my business too you know. Again, I'll repeat myself because everyone keeps insisting that they ignore me, but I have legal custody over Yuri therefore I can speak for his best interest."

"Oh, you and I are going to get along just fine," Micah said as she snorted. "Don't talk down to me like I'm a child. And don't be such a hypocrite."

"Tell me how old are you again? Because now I can't tell due in part because of your mouth right now." Oh how ruthlessly vicious Victor could be without Yuuri there to buffer him. Yuri glared at him, but chose to remain silent. He knew that Victor was right and it really was nothing personal against Micah.

Yuri knew it wasn't going to change much. It just seemed like he had kicked the hornet's nest needlessly. The test would take a few days, and in the meantime Micah had spent the majority of her time not talking to him.

It wasn't until late Friday night that he heard back from the doctor; and of course the news changed nothing for him. He just sat at the dining room table with Yuuri and Victor during dinner and discussed options from there on out.

"Victor; you need to settle down now," Yuuri was saying while the child of the table was busy picking at his salad with his fork.

"I know; I'm just, upset. I'm having a hard time trying to wrap my head around what the future is going to look like. I'm not just going to give up on you, Yuri. You're too talented, so we have to figure out what's going to work. And then there's the matter of telling your mother and grandfather." At that point he looked terrified as he folded his fingers together across his forehead while he leaned on the table. "Let's just hope that I walk away from this without being fired or prosecuted for negligence."

Before the event of the phone call, the two were chatting about their wedding plans. They had out on the table a few books and pictures that they had been reviewing for the ceremony and reception.

Before Yuri's mess, the had already settled on a date. Between the weight of Yuri's giant fuck up and wanting to share a beautiful ceremony with his husband to be, Victor really was understandably frustrated. Yuri understood that. He sunk low in his chair as he ruthlessly stabbed at a tomato.

"Um, so you guys are going to do an outdoor wedding, right? Or was it indoor?" he trialed off as the two looked at him with dumb expression like he had been talking in a different language. He scooted a little further down in his chair. "I wasn't really listening. Go over it with me. It's in September right?"

He heaved a heavy sigh as they continued to look at him with those stupid expressions. "Look, don't worry about me right now. Worry about your wedding or whatever. Just let me deal with my mother. I'll tell her. I'll figure something out. You're not going to take the fall for me so let's just talk about your wedding, okay?"

He would have to be tactful about this. He knew his mother, knew how her stupid little mind worked and how to fill her up with a sense of false ego and pride. He just needed to set a plan in place. He would be damned if he let Victor suffer because of his actions.

/

It took some time but eventually Micah came around and began talking to him again. Slowly his routine began to change as he and her made a point to become more involved in each other's lives. It was awkward at first, but they had managed to get a few dates in and do normal things that other couples might do: going out to eat, going to movies, things of that nature. He wasn't going to pretend like he didn't like it. It made things less awkward finally. And it allowed for Victor to ease up a little once he saw that Micah was more or less not just some floozy, that she was at least making an effort as well as he.

She had opted to take some time off for herself and usually toted along with the team to their daily practices whenever they went to the rink. She would sit up in the stands and watch them while she played on her phone. Occasionally, she would cheer them on, or ask questions when she didn't understand something about the sport of figure skating which was near constantly whenever Yuri took a water break.

He was leaning on her legs while she tapped on her phone one evening after practice. He had run late because he couldn't land the jumps he wanted for his routine. People had begun to mill about in the arena as time for open skate came. It was Friday night and soon the rink would turn into a shitfest of people who didn't know how to skate who we re there just to dick around on the ice.

"She should back off of my man," Micah read off of her phone. "Yurio is too precious of a cinnamon bun to be stuck in a relationship right now. He should be focused on the Olympics." "No, my husband. The ice tiger was supposed to marry meeeee," she continued as she frowned. "What in the fuck is wrong with your fans?" she asked as she directed her attention to him and showed him her twitter page. "They're starting to tag me in this stuff now and I don't like it. They're psycho."

"That's what I've been saying," Yuri said as he screwed the cap back onto his bottle after taking a long drink. "I'll tell them to knock it off. They don't need to harass you just because they're jealous of you."

She sighed and put her phone in her purse and leaned down on her knees as she looked out onto the ice. There was such a lonely expression in her eyes. Yuri was about to pull out his own phone when he halted his actions and took a moment instead to observe her. "Hmmm, why don't we do something fun?" he asked as he nudged her a little with his forearm.

"Like what," she asked as she gave him an unamused look.

"Do you know how to skate?"

"Ah-ha; you're joking, right? No way."

"Come on. We can rent you some skates and give it a go. I'll teach you. It'll help to take your mind off of things, okay?"

She sucked in her bottom lip and glanced around them. "I don't think it's a good idea. What if I fall or something?"

Yuri raised an eyebrow at her and smiled sincerely. "Really? You think I'd let any harm come to my woman? I'll catch you; promise," he said as he grabbed for her hands. He nodded his head towards the direction of the ice and wiggled his eyebrows with such a corny expression. "Look I hate myself just for offering this. Open skate is literally the worst thing ever, but I want to have some fun with you."

Reluctantly she nodded.

Yuri rolled his head on his shoulders, emitted an exaggerated sigh. Micah squeezed on tight to him after he had tied her laces and toted her onto the ice. He hated open skate; oh how he hated open skate.

"What?" She asked him as she clung just a bit tighter, thinking that there might be something terribly wrong.

"These things are are so cheesy. I'm getting cancer just from being here," he laughed while Micah pouted.

She squeezed out an unsure laugh whilst the lights in the arena dimmed and a voice came over the radio, introducing the song and the game to play along with it. "Wait, what?"

"What you've never played this game?" he asked as he patted her arm gently.

"The last time I went skating it was the 90's and I'm pretty sure you weren't even alive yet."

"Okay, we had stupid games like this in Russia too, just not these songs. The point is that everytime they sing the chorus you're supposed to turn on point and skate the other way. Good way to teach little ones how to control their movements better.

"I don't think I can do that," she muttered as Yuri attempted to move away from her so she could stand on her own.

"Sure you can. Arms out, follow your circle, and pivot your torso into the circle, then follow through by spinning your bottom half, ensuring that you're always facing the inner circle," he said as he showed her how. "Just do it on both feet. Really easy."  
"No," Micah said flatly as she seemed to glide forward all on her own, her arms spread out and her head bowing forward like she was some uncoordinated goose. "You should just go show off without me," she said as she tried to practice what he showed her nonetheless.

"No, no, come on. Hold my hands," he said as he grabbed for her and began to tug her along in the direction of the rest of the rink. "Who you gonna call?" he said as he bobbed his head to the shitty song.

"Stop it. This is stupid."

"That's what I should be saying," Yuri said as he twisted their bodies at the lyric and began to skate in the other direction with her following him haphazardly. "Besides, I wanna show of with you, not without you," he grinned as he let go of her hands and began to skate around her in small circles while she continued to glide forward. "Lean into the turn," he instructed from behind her as he tucked his hands behind his back like he was some sort of real authoritative coach. "Torso into the circle. Follow through," he kept saying as she completed her first about on her own. Too little too late for she was already behind a lyric and had to twist again.

"This is awful!" She shouted as he pushed on her so she wouldn't fall over or lose momentum.

"Lookin' good," Yuri shouted as he skated in little figure eights. He smiled as she looked at him as though she were proud for his compliment.

"Okay, so I've skated this stupid song and did these impossible tasks," she said as she huffed and puffed along the wall of the rink. "Now you can do something cool and let me watch. Go show off without me."

"Want to see something really fun, then?" he sneered as he began to skate backwards.

"Go for it," she said with a thumbs up in between her wheezes.

Quickly, Yuri looked around him to see if he had enough room to work with. Too many people. No matter; they would clear out once they realized what he was doing. He rolled his head on his shoulders as he came to a slow stop in the center of the rink and glanced back at the DJ with a quick thumbs up.

Around them the harsh metal sound of a guitar rolled around and the lights flickered in tempo with the song. Even a spotlight began to shine down on him; fucking sweet. Yuri twisted his torso and began to skate in line, falling into sync with his old exhibition skate that he had done about a year ago. He didn't have any of the fancy props, but he was sure the magic wouldn't be lost. It was all about the moves.

Now this was a better choice of music! He grinned as he stepped into his first jump, landing a double toe loop just for simplicity's sake. He didn't need to go all out right? He rolled backwards, showing off all of ways his body could move that Micah liked before he did a death drop spin for a little flare.

As suspected people began to part from the rink once they caught sight of what he was doing. Time for an intermission for the professional! Oh, how he forgot what it was like to show off outside of practice and competitions just for the sake of showing off. He cocked a grin as he raised a leg and made to pretend like he was playing the guitar on his thigh.

And the crowd goes wild, he thought to himself as he made the rock on sign with his fingers and stuck his tongue out.

"Yuri Plisetsky, everyone," the DJ announced as Yuri came to stop, opting not to fall down onto the ice like he would do at a show. He bowed instead and raised himself as the others in the rink clapped. Okay, he could admit that it was really fun. And he liked, as well, the way Micah was standing on the sidelines laughing and clapping for him with such a cute smile on her face.


	18. Chapter 18

Fabulous readers,

Thanks for waiting. I had some other stories that I wanted to start and get out of my system. So I was caught up in getting that out of the way.

"What are we to each other?" The question was random and sounded hollow in Micah's spacious flat. It came as a shock even to Yuri when the words fell out of his mouth that early evening. He was buttoning up his shirt and adjusting his cuffs while Micah sat at her makeup desk. She abruptly set her brush down with a sharp snap against the glass. Either she didn't know, or she had been hoping to avoid the conversation all together. At least that was what her body language told him.

Yuri gave her a curious look as he combed his bangs out of his face and tucked them behind his ears. "I'm over here with you a lot, but we don't do much, just chat and stuff," he said.

"What? Are you expecting sex?" she replied with a low sound in her voice as though she were giving Yuri a verbal cue to be wary of what he said next.

"No. Of course not. I respect your, um, womanly pride I guess. It's not about sex. I'm just wondering how this is going to work out between us when the baby arrives. Are we just going to stay friends and pass it off between one another like how divorced people do it."

"That's absurd. I'd hate to give my baby a life like that," she said as she gave a sniff of distaste for his comment.

"Okay?"

"I don't know," she said with what sounded like a deep seated sorrow in the back of her throat. "I just know what I _don't_ want for her."

"Her?"

"Yes; I can feel it in my bones that she's going to be a little girl."

"Ha-ha, okay then she's a little girl." Yuri looked Micah up and down from where he was standing. He couldn't figure her out. She didn't want to be alone, but she also didn't want to engage with him anymore than she would a male friend. He supposed he understood, but he wished that there was more of a definite sort of relationship there, something more substantial than: _we're just friends who are having a baby together_. He supposed he was lucky to begin with that she was including him. She could have never told him about this, could have insisted that she keep the baby to herself. At least this way he had a chance to be a father and to try to do right to set himself apart from his mistake.

Micah had asked him to escort her to a local awards ceremony that was being held at her theater that night. She was nominated in a few categories and she had her hopes set high that she would get some recognition for her career's sake. Yuri hopped for her success and good fortune.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced at the clock that hung on one of the walls, beginning to tap his foot lightly while he waited patiently.

Micah still sat at her desk. She was no longer moving and instead staring down at a singular spot on the wooden floor of her bedroom area. She sniffed. Was she….crying? She brought her hands up to her face and covered her eyes, making herself appear no better than a small child suffering from a scuffed knee. Her slim shoulders shook as she spoke between soft cries.

"I thought I'd be married. I thought I'd be older; and that I'd be happy with a husband and a pregnancy that was planned. One that I wanted. Now I'm stuck," she weeped.

Yuri raised his eyebrows as he took in her words. They were hard to hear, but what could he do but understand her perspective. He felt so low, like he had done this to her. Slowly, the teen bowed his head and chewed on his lips. She had very clearly stated two things that disturbed him greatly: one that she wasn't happy. And two that she didn't want this pregnancy.

"You can't go beating yourself up. Things like this happen, sometimes for good reasons," he began as he walked a little closer to her.

She looked up at him with a sharp glare in her eyes and snapped back. "For good reasons? What could possibly be good about this. My career is ruined."

"Wow; could you try to be a little more dramatic, Micah," Yuri said as he rolled his eyes and arrived at her desk.

"Don't patronize me!"

"I'm not, but you do sound a little ridiculous. This is a baby; unplanned yes, but babies are gifts. I don't think this will ruin my career. Victor does, but I know it won't."

"I hate that man," Micah said as she clenched her small hands into fists and glared down at her black dress. Apparently she thought it would be fitting to wear black as a mark of the death of her acting life.

"There's two of us. Okay? As a team we can overcome hardships and work together. If you keep thinking so negatively then you'll only live in it and soon it'll be the only thing that you'll have in your life. My mom lives like that."

"So you're comparing me to your mom now?"

"No, I'm providing an example so hopefully you can avoid that," he said as he glanced at her.

"Sometimes it's easy to forget that you're just a teen," she muttered sheepishly.

"Then forget I'm a teen," Yuri said as he readjusted himself and came close to her. He reached for her chin and pulled her face upwards so that she could look at him again. She had been in the process of finishing one eye and now her tears had caused her fresh makeup to dribble down her cheek.

Yuri scoffed as he grabbed for her brush and knelt down so he could touch her up. "Stop crying. It's making your makeup run," he said as he began to brush various shades of blacks and silvers onto her eyelid.

"You do makeup?" she laughed.

"Stay still and keep your eyes closed," he muttered as he worked and went on to answer her question. "I don't like anyone touching my face so I do my own makeup and hair for competitions. It's not hard," he said as he leaned closer to her with serious focus on what he was doing.

She laughed through her nose, but otherwise stayed perfectly still for him. "I think it's cute. You're sure you're not gay?"

"Will you quit it with that? I'm not gay; I legitimately enjoy your body, and I really did liked having sex with you, so I _know_ I like women," he said quietly, resisting the urge to rest his hand on her lap as he spoke. "If anything I'm probably bi. Maybe pan? I don't really know the difference. I get that I'm really feminine and sometimes I like the idea of being a really submissive partner to someone very masculine, but right now it's just you. I just like you."

"Bi, huh? That's kind of hot," Micah teased as she split her mouth into a smile, teasing a laugh from Yuri in reply. It was good to see her calm down and relax again.

"It's probably Victor's fault. I'll just blame it on him."

"Have you ever had a crush on another guy before?"

"I _prefer_ women, but yeah, I guess I've entertained a crush on a man before," he said casually, enjoying that they could have such a light conversation about something that was still kind of socially awkward, especially for others his age.

"Who!?"

"Um, Beka. I think he's my type. I used to have a crush on Victor when I was younger, but I don't think that was sexual," he mused.

"Him? Ew, really?"

"What's wrong with Beka?" Yuri snorted as he pulled the makeup brush away from her eye. "I think he's really handsome."

"You must like really manly men then."

"It contrasts my overly feminine nature," Yuri snorted sarcastically as he jabbed her brush back into her eye. "And you like twinks and traps then."

"Ouch," she joked. There was a short pause as she began to wiggle her leg.

"Stop moving."

"So all that you said about it just being me right now. You mean that?"

Yuri smiled though it hardly mattered because she still had her eyes closed. "Yeah, I do mean it. I like you. You're beautiful, and funny. I'm not really interested in anyone else right now."

"Not even Beka?"

"Beka is my friend, Micah. I don't want to have sex with my friends. What's that they say about it ruining things?"

"Do you really think we can be a team? Can we get this to work just you and I?"

Yuri clucked his tongue as he began to blend the colors on her eye and smooth out the fallout on her cheeks. "I don't see why not. Other young couples do it just fine. It's just the natural way of things, two partners sharing their responsibilities over the life they made."

"How old are you again?" She laughed.

"My age doesn't have anything to do with common sense. People keep calling it maturity, but it's just having common sense about serious things. I can be plenty immature when I'm hungry or crabby if that makes you feel better.

"And you were pretty immature yourself back there just a few moments ago. So see? Age is irrelevant; it's how we chose to act." Why was this starting to feel like a proposal to him, like he was trying to convince her to love him? He gave a dumb look as he shoved the handle of her brush in his mouth and reached for her eyeliner.

"It makes sense when you put it that way. And it makes me a little less afraid I guess," she mumbled.

"Good. Okay, look up," he said as he began on her waterline. "I want to help you be less afraid, okay?"

"Thank you."

The night was just about as long and annoying as Yuri was expecting it to be, but Micah seemed to be in a better mood. She led him around, even daring to link arms with him and snuggle close. Of course a great deal of people were wondering why it was that some Russian figure skater was there, but Micah merely brushed their comments a side and introduced him to them as her friend and gentlemanly escort for the evening.

So a friend it was. He could live with that he guessed. Why did she insist that he be there if she was just going to do that to him though? Wouldn't her friends be a better fit for her to go to a party with?

The theater was cool, but the champagne that Yuri had been sneaking drinks from kept his belly warm. He was sitting in the dark auditorium while the announcers chatted about the years progress, the success and the downfalls of the plays from 2016 and what was to come in the new year.

It was hard for Yuri to care, or sit still even. He brooded in his seat with his leg wiggling back and forth, his glare fixed on the podium. He couldn't be sure what exactly it was that had put him in such a bad mood, though he did have a list of ideas.

He only halted when he felt a hand slip into his a cold, small one. He froze and glanced down. Micah was sitting next to him, looking at him with what he could only hope was a loving expression. She smiled at him and he in turn gave her a nervous smile back, his cheeks growing hot. Gently, in reply to her gesture, he laced his fingers with hers as she pulled his hand into her lap and cradled it next to her belly.


	19. Chapter 19

Fabulous readers,

I am a woman on a mission. I'm trying so hard to get to the next chapter. I need to post it. Need to get it out of my life!

"You cried again and now your makeup is all faded and runny," Yuri started. He had his elbow propped up on the window ledge of the Uber car as he spoke to Micah. He didn't look at her while he talked, he just stared on out into the dark night, chewing on his lips and reflecting back on the evening. She had called him friend, cried about not wanting this pregnancy, and then she cozied up to him right at the last bit of the night, right before she won her award and stood on stage with faked tears of gratitude streaming down her face. She was obnoxiously stereotypical during the whole ordeal, hardly sincere at all. He was glad to have supported her, but blech. Her speech was garbage.

She was sitting in the back seat with him now, her arms cradling her award and a very satisfied, not-so-humbled expression on her face. "Shut up; every award gets me more recognition," she said as she clutched to her golden statue a little tighter and pushed her legs together.

The Uber came to a slow halt outside of her apartments, marking the end of their very uneventful and boring evening. Yuri climbed out from his side and trotted around so he could open up the door for her. "Well, in any case I'm happy for you that you got what you wanted," he said as he leaned on the outside of the door after he swung it open. He had no intention of staying; he was just trying to be nice. He gave a quick, soft smile as she stood up and glanced at him.

Sheepishly, she wiped the makeup smears from her cheeks and let out a short laugh. "Hmm, yeah, thanks."

There was only a quick awkward pause before she spoke again. Yuri wasn't expecting a kiss goodnight or anything. He would have crawled back into the car had she stepped out from the doorway, but she remained there for a moment, fidgeting with her necklace before she spoke. "I'm in a good mood tonight. Why don't you come up?" she said quickly as Yuri's cheeks flashed bright with an immediate blush.

He straightened and pulled out his phone, twisting to the driver and waving him off. "Guess I'll be staying," he said. "Thanks."

The Uber veered off down the street and drove out of view, leaving Yuri and Micah alone in the evening air. She grabbed for his hand and gave him a tug, leading up and into her flat with an obnoxiously awkward silence following them.

"I should probably call Victor, let him know I'll be late before he has another aneurysm and punches rather than slap me this time around or something," Yuri said as began to tap at his phone after he paid the Uber.

She snatched for him and pulled his phone down. "Forget Victor. You don't need tell him about your personal life. Just stay the night with me and forget about it," she said with hopeful eyes.

Yuri blinked slowly. "You mean you want me to stay here?" he said as he looked into her apartment as though he had never been in there before, or as though it were a forbidden place to him, disregarding completely that he had been in there not but a few hours ago.

"Yeah; stay with me, Yuri," she said. Slowly she began to inch her fingers up to his collar so that she might tug on him, usher him into her flat and closer to her lips.

Confusion was not a sufficient enough of a word for how he felt as she tried to kiss him. He didn't mean it in a harmful way, but he still pulled her hands off of him and stepped back a little, asking for her to pause. She had taken his breath away so he couldn't quite formulate what he wanted to say or how to say it just right off, so instead he gave her a pained expression.

"I'm not so sure this is a good idea," he muttered quietly, not wanting to see the disappointment settle on her soft features.

"What do you mean?"

"You were just parading me around tonight, calling me your friend, and before that you were still saying that you were uncomfortable with me because of my age."

"But you said you liked me," she pouted as she looked down.

"I do like you, but I don't want to confuse you or make things more difficult," he said as he relaxed his shoulders and loosened his grip on her wrists.

"Did it hurt your feelings that I kept introducing you as my friend?" she said after a moment of silence while she tried to take some time to puzzle together what it might be like for Yuri instead of what it was always like for her in this situation. She sounded embarrassed, like she knew what she had done was wrong and hurtful for him.

"It did, yes. It'd be one thing if you just settled one way or the other, but you introduce me as your friend in public when you're so much more intimate with me."

"Well, we don't have sex or anything," came her quick reply, her quick excuse like sex was the only thing that made two people an item.

Yuri clucked his tongue with annoyance as he gave her a stern look. "No, we don't, but emotionally you're a lot more than just friends with me. I think you know that."

She sighed, taking in a sharp inhale through her white teeth as she glanced down again after looking at his expression. Her hands fell from his collar to the front of his body, lingering there as she drew imaginary lines against his torso with her dark fingernails. "Let me show you, then. How much you can mean to me," she said softly, her hands delving a little lower until she grazed against his belt buckle.

Yuri flinched; he should argue her point, state that she was still not getting what he meant, but he couldn't deny that he wanted it. He gritted his teeth as her nimble fingers began to work their way into his pants.

"If you want to be lovers then let's be lovers," she said as closed the door to her flat pulled on him so that he walked a little further into her room. She snapped at his belt and lowered herself to her knees, bowing before him with her red lips pressed to the fabric of his pants against his groin.

Yuri shivered as his fingers instantly came to undo her braided hair, wanting to see her beautiful red, wavy locks hang down and frame her face. He stared down as she gave him a smile and wrapped those beautiful lips around his erection after she coaxed it free from its constraints.

"A-ah," he whimpered as he tensed and his fingers crawled a little deeper in the roots of her hair.

"You've never been sucked off before have you?" she asked as she pulled her lips off of him and pushed them down the side of his shaft, staring up at him with such a unnervingly intense gaze. "We didn't do this last time we were together."

"No. I haven't," he replied through his teeth. He didn't know what he was supposed to do! Did he force himself into her mouth? Or did he just stand there and let her do all of the work? It seemed awkward. He just couldn't get himself to relax no matter how many times he told himself it was okay. She wanted this; he wanted this. So it was okay.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" she asked as she slowly wrapped her fingers around the waistband of his dress pants and began to pull them down. "This is what you want isn't it?"

"I don't just want this Micah," he whispered as he pulled his hand up to his mouth and covered it lest he let out too loud of a moan too quickly.

Below, she smirked against his erection as she gripped onto him with her slender, chilly fingers. The touch of her was enough to drive him wild, send a flourish of shivers up and down the length of his spine. "Wow you really can be pretty and feminine. I want to see this part of you," she said as she slowly stroked, wetting him with her saliva.

He shivered again. "What are you talking about?" he hissed just as he felt her lips kiss upon his head.

"When you were talking about being the feminine partner in sex, with a big masculine man," she went on. "I thought that was really hot."

"Come on, Micah. Don't play weird games with me. You don't want to see me acting like that," he said as he pushed his lips together.

"I think I kind of do. Play a game with me, Yuri. Can you show me all of these parts to you? I want them to be for me and only for me."

"I-I don't think this is right. You're-"

"Shhh," she said as she climbed up from her knees and began to tugg on him so that he followed her towards her bed like he was lost. "You want it; I know you do. You liked being inside of me. Wouldn't you like that again? To be inside where I'm warm and wet?" she said as she looked at him through heavily lidded eyes. She looked just too perfect especially with how dark he made her make up. She looked dangerous.

He gulped and began to remove his clothes as he climbed up onto her bed and pulled her along with him, his arms wrapping around her and his lips colliding with her jugular. "I'm not going to act like some whiny twink, so don't ask me to," he muttered against her skin before he nipped at her and gave her her own reason to shiver this time. "Take your panties off," he said as he slid his hand up under her dress and tugged on the lace.

"Hey, you said you like being the submissive partner sometimes."

"Not when you tease me like this," he growled. "Maybe someday when I'm used to having sex, but this is literally only the second time," he muttered as he kissed her all along the flesh of her neck. "I want to ravish you. You're so beautiful," he moand as he grabbed her and rolled her over so that she was under him.

"Sounds like you're pretty enamored with me, huh?" she laughed lightly as she batted her eyes at him and ran her fingers through her hair. "Fancy meeting you here again," she continued playfully as he pushed his fingers under the hem of her panties and began to pull.

He laughed as he glanced down at what he was doing and then back into her gaze again.

"Do you want me, Yuri?"

"I want you so bad," he said as he tossed her underclothes to the side and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Then you can have me, okay?"

"I promise I'll take care of you," he said in a low voice as he leaned down and kissed her, parting his his lips to mutter one more thing. "Just hold my hands and trust me," he whispered against her lips as she laced his fingers with his and held onto him so sweetly as he made love to her, giving his heart and soul to her that night. And hopefully she had too.


	20. Chapter 20

Fabulous readers,

I'm here; I made it. I've been working feverishly to get to this point and it's finally here. I've had this chapter written and ready to go for about a month now. I've just been trying to tick away at my to do list for this story before I got here. But it's here now!

"Are you sure about this?" Yuri was saying as he bounced Marina in his arms whilst he sat on his bed. "Although I appreciated it at the time, I didn't think you were actually being serious."

Beka paused and looked at him as he was putting his day clothes back into his duffle bag he had on the floor. He had only just showed up earlier that evening with the intention of staying for a few weeks in order to help Yuri. "Why wouldn't I have been serious?" he asked plainly with a look that made Yuri feel kind of dumb.

"We don't have to anywhere comfortable for you to sleep since the spare bedroom has been turned into Marina's nursery."

"Yeah, about that. Why does she sleep in here if she had her own room?" Beka replied as he nodded his head towards Marina's bassinet next to Yuri's bed.

Yuri leaned towards the cradle and put her into it, hoping that she wouldn't protest and began to rock her a little. "Because she has to sleep with me for right now. She's so colic-y. It's just easier to grab her when I'm sleeping next to her. Otherwise I just wind up getting up and down all night." He sighed and glanced away from his snoozing baby. "I think she's asleep for now." He flopped backwards onto his bed, about ready to pass out just as she had done. He covered his face with the crook of his elbow as he continued to talk. "You can sleep with me or on the floor. Er, well I could sleep on the floor since that would be the more hospitable thing."

"Your bed is big enough for the two of us. Just like a sleep over," Beka replied. Quietly he walked to Yuri and sat next to him, leaning over and crawling on his belly to the spot closest to the cradle.

"Cha; okay two grown ass men having a sleepover with a baby."

"You're still a teenager."

"Okay, that makes it sound worse. A 20 year old man sharing a bed with a 17 year old teenager."

Beka winced at that comment.

It did not go unnoticed by Yuri that his comment had struck a sensitive chord with Beka. He excused himself as he leaned forward a little and placed his hand on his friend's back. "I don't mind sharing a bed with you. I'm only kidding." He paused and looked around the room awkwardly for a moment, taking in the sweet, sweet silence. "So what? You're going to wake up in the middle of the night with her?" he said eventually.

"That's the plan. And you're right here if anything goes wrong."

To that Yuri nodded. He scrubbed the palms of his hands into his eyes as he yawned. "Okay, I'm going to lay down then," he said before he gingerly crawled over Otabek's body and curled up into a tight ball. He hadn't even remembered to turn the light off. He was just so destroyed that all he could think to do was immediately lay down upon being relieved of his duties. He felt Beka re-situate himself out of the bed and Yuri was out before the light went dark in the room.

He awoke later that night, not violently like he had a nightmare, but because he was so used to having disrupted sleep. He looked around the room, confused at first as to where he was. He had almost forgotten that he was sharing a bed with Beka. He only remembered when he groped around in his blankets and happened to grab onto Beka's thigh accidently. He jerked his hand away and waited to see if he had woken him up.

Yuri felt the other stir. Otabek rolled over and faced him in the dark. "Are you cold?" he said with a groggy, quiet voice and pulled some the blanket off of him and closer to Yuri.

"Yeah. I was just seeing if everything was alright. I forgot you were in bed with me," he laughed lightly with a gentle hiss.

There came a muffled laugh from the other, indicating that Beka had twisted his face into his pillow. He broke away and spoke. "You were so tired that you didn't wake up for her diaper change and bottle."

"Shit; I'm sorry, Beka," Yuri said as he wiggled down back under the blankets. "But she's okay?"

"Yeah; she went right back to sleep."

"What are you magic or something?" he whispered back with an unamused look on his groggy face.

From beside him Yuri could hear Beka snort. "Not any more magical than you I'm sure."

"In any case, thanks," Yuri said genuinely.

"You should get some more sleep. I think you just need to rest and you'll start to feel better," Beka said soothingly as he wrapped his arm around Yuri's smaller body.

For a good long while Yuri lay there in the quiet and the still of the room. At first his body tensed upon feeling the weight of Beka's arm across him. The feel of it was near suffocating, but it also felt reassuring to him. He just couldn't seem to shake Beka's words from before, his words about intimacy between them.

They really were quite intimate, more so in the last few months than ever. And what did that mean? Was he simply just happy to be sharing a bed with someone again? He had grown so accustomed to it after Micah. But sleeping with Otabek was so different than sleeping with her. He was heavier, harder.

In a sleep induced daze, Yuri could feel himself rolling closer to Beka's heat and pushing his hand up under his shirt so he could feel his sides and hips. From beneath his touch, Yuri could feel the other body tense up immediately. Yuri raised his hands off of Otabek's body, instantly regretting his actions. He hadn't known what he had been doing almost. "S-sorry," he whispered.

Instead of hearing a reply from his company, there was nothing but the sound of rustling blankets as Beka's hands came to roam up underneath Yuri's shirt in exchange. His hands were really warm. And large too, completely opposite to Micah's who's were usually cold.

Hesitantly, Yuri returned his hands back to Beka's body and felt him, more like explored him as did the other man sharing his bed. What were they doing? What was he doing? Yuri swallowed as Beka leaned in closer to him. Although it was pitch black in his room he knew that Beka's face was only mere inches from his own.

He was nervous. Why was he nervous?

Gently Yuri rolled his hands up from Beka's waist to the front of his chest, along his abs, along his pecs, all the while he closed the gap between them and kissed the man full against the mouth.

As though he had been craving it, Beka responded not with fear or disgust, but by pulling Yuri closer and holding onto him tighter.

Why was he doing this?

Because it felt really good.

Why Otabek?

Because he loved him.

Yuri hardly had time to care or entertain his own mental questions. Instead he kissed his company deeper and let him touch all along the farthest reaches of his body, from his sides, to his hips, to his thighs, to his ass. Yuri loved it all.

Kissing beka was so different. It wasn't even the kind of a situation where he could dismiss it like he didn't know what he was doing. It was painfully and wonderfully obvious that he was kissing another man. He was so much bigger. Yuri could feel the sculpt of his jaw as his fingers crawled up to his chin. He could feel the scratchy stubble on his shaven face. Even the smell of Beka was undeniably masculine. It was enough to make Yuri feel weak in the knees. He really liked it.

Yuri curled to that sensation, wanting to delve into it. He let out a quiet hiss as Otabek sat up onto his elbow and leaned over him, pushing on the little blonde so that he moved to lay flat on his back.

Yuri let loose a moan before he shut himself up and looked at the bassinette, terrified for a moment that he had woken Marina up. "She's still asleep," Beka said hot in his ear as Yuri shivered from the sensation of it.

Beka had his hand on the younger skater's hip and was teasing at the hem of his boxer shorts, pushing the material down slowly as though his actions spoke his request: can I touch you?

"Jesus, Beka," Yuri hissed as he scrambled to pull his boxers down, suddenly so desperate for his touch and attention.

He rushed to touch Beka's hand and physically gave him permission by tugging his hand against his groin. He twitched with nerves before he reached for Beka's sweats and tugged on his draw strings. "You too," he ordered.

Hastily Beka tore his pants down to his thighs, exposing himself for Yuri to touch.

Yuri was a man, and still he had no idea what he was doing. As they kissed, Beka gripped onto Yuri's small hand and showed him what to do. Yuri was unfortunately very bad at it while Otabek seemed almost masterful. Had he been with other men before?

He relaxed as he focused on the sensation of having someone jerk him slow and easy. He sat up and let his legs relax while he kissed Otabek and continued to give pleasure in return, his fingers rolling across the relatively smooth skin of Beka's erection. He could feel it flex in his hand in response to being touched just right. Shit, it was almost creepy! Yuri moved faster, kissing with more desire, and moaned deeper against the older man's lips as they sat there together, playing with one another.

He soon grew bored, though; well, more impatient really. He pulled his mouth away from Beka's not before he had bitten the other and dragged his teeth from him slowly before he spoke. "I need some lube. I think I still have some...somewhere," he said with a frazzled tone.

Yuri scooped his fingers through his bangs as he looked away, trying to fucking remember where he had last seen his bottle. "Just a sec," he a requested as he crawled on his hands and knees to the end of the bed and spilled his upper body off of the edge so that he might dig around in his clutter that he had hidden behind his bed skirt. He wanted to move quickly, but he was so afraid of waking the baby that he dared not. Instead he pawed around carefully until he felt it. "Found it!" he hissed as he sat up and wiggled back up to Beka.

"Still asleep?" he asked witholding his breath for a second as he waited and listened.

"Yeah, she's still asleep," Otabek replied. Yuri could feel him move and grab for his body, easily hoisting him up into his lap and letting him settle there with their erections pushed together. Beka was so much thicker than he. It felt so weird to have another man touching him, but he wasn't turned off by it. In response he wiggled uncomfortably.

"You're stabbing me," he muttered.

"Sorry. Here," said the other as he grabbed for the bottle from Yuri's hand.

"A-are you going to stick it in me?" Yuri blurted out as Beka held their hands together and dribbled the lubricant across their fingers.

He laughed. "Maybe some other time if you want me to," he replied simply as he guided Yuri's hand down between their bodies.

When was the last time that Yuri had any sort of sexual moment, with himself or another? It had to have been a few months. Since before October. It was almost like he forgot how to do it or what to do and his stamina was shit.

"Shit, I'm cumming," he moaned as he tried to cover himself, making his hand sticky in the process of his orgasm.

It seemed that Beka had been burning for this. But what could Yuri tell? Was beka just being nice because of the whole rebound thing? He just rested there gladly, letting his fingertips go limp and allowed for the other to use them until he too came with a quiet, beautiful moan. Yuri really liked feeling him cum onto his fingers. It was satisfying so he couldn't help but smile.

The two were fast asleep, both too tired even to go clean themselves after their very vanilla play time together.

Yuri had promptly made himself more at home with his bed mate. Since he was the smaller of the two he could get away with clasping onto Otabek as though he were a giant teddy bear, with his arms and legs dangling across him as he held on and relished the feeling of safety and security from the other who had his arms wrapped around him tight.

It was probably a bad idea to start something sexual with Beka; you weren't supposed to do that with your friends. From his understanding it never turned out right. He couldn't afford to get his heart broken again, not so soon after his first, but for the moment he entertained the idea that he could have a family like he wanted, even daring to think that things would work out and he could live a long and happy life with Beka and Marina.

He'd really like that.


	21. Chapter 21

_Fabulous readers,_

 _I oh so hope you enjoyed that last chapter :) Thank you for your comments. There's a lot of you that are really thinking critically about the inner workings of my story and that just makes me so darn happy! I love it when you guys send me your thoughts about the characters and what the story makes you feel. ^_^_

Marina must have slept for a good chunk of the night for once. She remained quiet well into the early hours of the morning; it was still ungodly early when she at last woke him up, but progress was progress.

He groaned as he peeled himself off of Otabek and looked down at himself. "Ew," he stated as he popped out of bed and made it straight for the bathroom while Marina was still fussing. She wasn't crying so she was good for a few minutes.

When he returned Beka was up and rocking her cradle with this dumb, groggy look on his face. It was kind of cute. Yuri snickered as he leaned down and scooped his daughter into his arms. He pulled her up to his shoulder and patted her while he bounced, observing Beka before he made a move out of the room.  
It was 4 in the morning. He had no idea what to say so he chose to say nothing; it was far too early. The house was silent as the rest of the residents still slept. Not even Makkachin felt the need to get out of bed and paw at Yuuri and Victor's door with his desire to be let out.

It was too late in the early morning to hope to get anymore actual sleep, so Yuri figured it was best to just get up and get ready for the day. He would try to take a nap later perhaps with Marina. He walked with her to the bathroom once more and began to fill the bath while he chatted with her in a high pitched baby talk voice. He would sing to her, but he didn't want Beka to hear. Oh how she hated baths so he had to do what he could to keep her from fussing. Yuri could not understand how babies could get so crusty and smelly so quickly. He prefered the scent of baby shampoo and lotion over the smell of her formula and diapers so he didn't mind giving her a bath frequently, anything to keep that gross formula smell at bay.

From behind him he could hear Otabek follow in pursuit, probably to wash his hands. Yuri was kneeling on the ground with Marina sprawled out on a fresh towel as he removed her flower onesie. He did not look at Beka; he was too stupid that early in the morning to know what to say, so instead he kept his head turned to what he was doing and lifted her up and into her little bath seat, holding her while, for once, she remained quiet and content to be submerged in something warm. He sighed with relief and scratched his nose against his arm.

"So," Beka stated from behind him.

"So," Yuri repeated with a nasally sleep coated voice. He cleared his throat, hating the way he sounded in the morning.

Another awkward silence.

"That was kind of weird last night, I guess," Yuri said eventually, figuring that Beka also did not know what to say. "I-um-. It was nice so thank you."

To that Beka cleared his throat, shifting his weight against the vanity in the bathroom as though he were feeling guilty about something.

Yuri blinked the sleep out of his eyes as he lathered his baby up in soap and washed her with a cloth, smiling for a moment at her as she looked up with such big, trusting eyes. She was engaging with the world around her so much better now.

"Look, you didn't take advantage of me if that's why you're standing over there looking so gloomy with that sorry panda bear look on your face right now. I enjoyed it," Yuri repeated more thoroughly this time. He didn't want to give Otabek the time to reply so he continued. "You said you wanted to be a rebound, so mission accomplished I feel like I'm not utterly alone right now. I really appreciate you standing up and taking up a position that my daughter's mother should have done in the first place. I didn't mean to ask so much from you. And it didn't have to get sexual if you didn't want it to."

"No! No, I-uh-I thought it was nice too. I wasn't expecting you to cozy up to me like you did," Beka at last said as he uncrossed his arms and came to kneel beside Yuri. "I want to support you the best I can. You have a lot headed your way. You're still going to go through with the Olympics, right?"

"Yeah. It's my personal vindictive, little goal to prove everyone wrong because they pissed me off with all of their 'your life is ending' bullshit," he worked out, frustrating himself in the process as he glanced at Beka quickly. "I need to start training soon. I only have about a month to get everything down. I was only taking these few weeks off to get adjusted to fatherhood. She's going to make it hard, but I still want to try," he said as he held onto her little hand.

Beka reached to place his hand on Yuri's thigh and give him a tight, reassuring squeeze. "Together?"

Yuri snorted through his nose, a laugh of sorts. Somehow there was an air of irony over this situation. Beka was standing where Yuri had been not but 6 months ago with Micah. He would be better than her, though, even if he was tired and broken; even if he was scared shitless. He blinked a few times and raised his head to look at Beka. "Together how?"

"Together-together," he stated. He gave a pained face, like he didn't know what to say and licked his lips and readjusted himself on the floor next to Yuri, leaning just a little bit closer to him. "Back when I kissed you before; when we talked together after Micah gave you back your engagement ring. I was being serious. I still am serious. I tried to tell you I loved you right after Marina was born."

"Yeah, I know," Yuri said, cutting Otabek off before he couldn't say anymore. "I could hear you. I thought I was dreaming at first, but there was something about it that told me it wasn't a dream."

"You… knew?" Beka said, dumbfounded.

"Yeah?"

"And you were just going to leave me hanging?"

Yuri blushed as he gave a flustered expression. He shook his head quickly before he pulled Marina from the tub and rested her back on the towel. "No," he said at first as he shifted uncomfortably, feeling like Beka's eyes were now drilling holes into him. "I just didn't know what to say. You thought I was asleep," he said sheepishly with a blush on his cheeks. "I was going to bring it up eventually. I'm just trying to take things slow.

"I know you love me and I love you too," Yuri blurted out before he shut his mouth with a gasp. "I mean." The little blonde groaned as he picked Marina up. He climbed to his feet and outstretched his neck, casting his face to look up at the vent in the bathroom ceiling. There he goes again.

"It's complicated, okay? I wish it wasn't," he muttered as he backtracked to Marina's nursery with her cooing happily and waiving her chubby little arms around. He smiled to her just as Beka followed in tow, prowling on the outer edges of the nursery with this dark, foreboding aura following him. In reply Yuri curled his shoulders down, doing his best to hide his guilty expression.

"Stop staring at me like that; you're making me nervous," he muttered.

"I can't; you just told me you loved me," Beka shot back, his voice made Yuri shiver a little.

"I've always loved you, stupid. You're, like, the single most important person in my life outside of my Grandpa." He glanced back at Beka to evaluate his facial expression for a quick moment before he averted his eyes again with a hot blush.

"Okay, then why did you do what you did with Micah?"

"Because I wanted to take responsibility for her. She was going to be the mother of my child. Of course I felt love for her, but it doesn't matter because love was a concept she couldn't grasp. She made it very clear that she never felt anything for me, but she was really fucking good at leading me on.

"Look, I didn't say anything about the love thing between us because I didn't want to make it seem like I was crawling back to you because I couldn't make things work with Micah," he noted with a nod of his head. "I have pride, everyone knows that."

"What about last night?"

Yuri gave him another dumb look, repeating himself, "again. I said I liked it."

"That's not a good answer," Beka said as he began to shake his leg.

"I touched you last night because I love you. And I liked it when you touched me back because at the time I was hoping it was because you love me too. I'm like some shitty bird or something. I don't want to be lonely. I keep crying and feeling my heart break whenever I think about how I got here," he said as his throat stiffened a little. "But I didn't just want to fall back to you because I didn't think that was fair. I should have listened to you in the first place when you told me not to go through with proposing. Lessoned learned. How can you still love me?"

"Because I always will, Yuri," Beka said as he pushed away from where he had been skulking. He closed the gap between them and reached out to brush the tears from Yuri's cheeks. The other hadn't even realized that he had been crying.

He sniffed as he picked Marina up. "I have to feed her. I don't just think I deserve anything anymore," he muttered.

"That's not true, Yuri. You know that. You're too much of a prideful, hothead, little prick to think things like that. I'm not doing this because I have pity for you. I'm doing this because I truly do believe that you're for me and I'm for you."

"What, like soulmates?" Yuri said as he glanced at him.

"Yeah. I mean… I'll propose to you if you want me to. We can pick up the pieces where you left off and do things right," Beka said as he took Marina from him and held her against his bare chest.

Yuri laughed after he gave a disgusting sniff from having been crying. "She looks good in your arms like that. Like you really could be her dad, but you should hold up and keep your sappy romantic notions for another day. Just kiss me and say good morning or something. Let's start there… please," he said as he tapped his lips and leaned up on his toes so Beka could kneel and kiss him.

His lips were rough in the morning, even hotter than they had been last night. Yuri really liked it. Beka smiled against him before he whispered. "Good morning, Yuri. Why don't you get breakfast started and I'll feed the baby, okay?"

"Sounds good."


End file.
